In the hopes of condemning religious discrimination, Pierrefonds-Dollard Member of Parliament Frank Baylis presented the E-411 petition to the House of Commons.
It was brought forth twice before a motion was passed.
“I was very proud,” said Baylis, who sponsored the bill.
“It was big initiative, obviously. It’s the most signatures ever on an electronic petition in Canada.”
The petition garnered 69,742 signatures.
“It stated that extremists who conduct acts of violence do not speak for the religion of Islam and it condemns Islamophobia, which seems to come from that,” Baylis said.
The movement started in Baylis’ Pierrefonds-Dollard riding by resident Samer Majzoub on June 8 and rapidly grew from there.
“You only have 120 days when you do an electronic petition,” Baylis said.
“Interestingly enough, we were signing up over 2,000 a day.”
Signatures by province/territory:
- Alberta: 7,760
- British Columbia: 2,782
- Manitoba: 719
- New Brunswick: 154
- Newfoundland and Labrador: 98
- Northwest Territories: 51
- Nova Scotia: 395
- Nunavut: 21
- Ontario: 43,573
- Prince Edward Island: 53
- Quebec: 12308Saskatchewan: 707
- Yukon: 30
- Other Countries: 1,091
The motion comes just after Canada accepted thousands of Syrian refugees into the country.
READ MORE: Quebec government celebrates one year anniversary of Syrian refugee arrivals
“Our Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, made a tremendous statement when he went and met that first plane that landed with Syrian refugees,” Baylis said.
“He sent a message not just to Canadians, but around the world that Canada is a place that’s open, welcoming.”
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