Third Anniversary of Shooting at Quebec City's Islamic Cultural Centre

Step Up the Fight to Defend the Rights of All!

Vigil in Quebec City, January 30, 2017, the day after shootings at the Islamic Cultural Centre.

January 29 marked the third anniversary of the shooting at the Islamic Cultural Centre in Quebec City. That day a man burst into the Centre where people were praying, and shot and killed six people, and injured 19 others. Shortly after, the shooter was arrested. He has been found guilty of six charges of first-degree murder and six of attempted murder, and sentenced to life in prison, with no possibility of parole for 40 years.

On that day three years ago, Quebeckers and Canadians immediately went into action to stand as one in defence of the rights of all. Vigils, rallies and ceremonies across Quebec and Canada condemned this violent act and offered heartfelt condolences and support for the families, friends and community that lost loved ones and for Muslim communities that are targets of state-organized and inspired Islamophobia. People came together, expressing that if the Muslim community and all communities are not thriving, free to express their right to be, and free from violence being exercised against them, then neither are the Quebec and Canadian people.

In commemorating the third anniversary of the shooting and remembering those who died, we are reminded of the constant tension that is imposed on the lives of the people. The shooting at the Islamic Cultural Centre took place just days after the publication of the U.S. presidential decree banning citizens of seven countries with predominantly Muslim populations from entering the U.S. and closing U.S. borders to refugees. On this third anniversary, a toxic climate continues to be expressed in an openly hysterical, warmongering and racist manner. This is seen in U.S. imperialism's targeted killings and threats of war against Iran, and the criminal activity of the U.S. in engineering regime change and coups in the Americas. It is also seen in the Trudeau government's appeasement of the U.S. imperialists while never missing an opportunity to talk about peace and unity.

The people of Quebec and Canada want to put an end to all manner of hate crimes. How this resolve is being used by the Trudeau Liberals to assault the right to conscience and criminalize those who are fighting for rights, opposing war, and striving to bring the New into being is a serious question for discussion.

The Trudeau government has fully adopted the treacherous view that the deep dissatisfaction of Canadians with the political process and cartel party system arises from foreign actors and their instruments in Canada, either willing agents or dupes, which need to be checkmated and criminalized. In the name of fighting online hate, plans are being made to bring back "options for civil remedies for victims of hate speech." The "options" in question were removed from the Criminal Code on the basis that they violated the right to freedom of speech. Their reintroduction is a tool by which individuals can be defamed and declared outside the law. Other measures being planned include stiff penalties for social media platforms that do not remove "illegal content" within 24 hours. Who decides what constitutes "illegal content" is a serious concern, particularly when the police and security agencies equate opposition to NATO and NORAD and the integration of Canada into the U.S. war machine with disloyalty or subversion.

It is the people fighting for their rights and their organizations that become the targets. The Trudeau government claims that the Canadian state with the Liberal Party in power is standing up to hate speech and extremism. On what basis is organizing coups and regime change, imposing crippling sanctions against peoples of countries who do not accept imperialist hegemony, and criminalizing Indigenous peoples defending their own territories considered "moderate," and opposing Canada's integration into the U.S. war machine and supporting the struggles of the peoples for their nation-building projects without imperialist interference considered "extremist"? Such self-serving definitions of the ruling elite to justify the use of police powers, and the criminalization and defamation of individuals and their organizations can never be accepted.

It is our social responsibility to make sure that no individual or collective is left to fend for themselves in the face of attacks on their rights, to learn from each other in the course of this struggle, and build a space for discussion and exchange of views where we speak in our own name and work out ways to elaborate our nation-building project for the well-being of all.

We Will Never Forget the Criminal Attack on the Muslim Community in Quebec City!
Step Up the Fight in Defence of the Rights of All!

This article was published in

Volume 50 Number 2 - February 1, 2020

Article Link:
Step Up the Fight to Defend the Rights of All!

    

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