OTTAWA – The MP who touched off a fiery debate across Canada with a motion on Islamophobia, is urging parliamentarians to take a unified approach to find ways to combat it.
Liberal MP Iqra Khalid says she hopes the House of Commons heritage committee finds the right experts and data to complete its study on combating systematic racial and religious discrimination against all minorities.
The study was mandated as part of the motion Khalid introduced in the House of Commons last December and which passed last spring.
The use of the term Islamophobia in the motion set off squabbles on Parliament Hill and beyond, with opponents saying the term is deliberately vague and the motion could threaten free speech.
Khalid received thousands of hate-laced messages and death threats in the aftermath.
But she isn’t discussing those in her testimony before the committee, saying she’d rather the body focus on moving forward.