Today, January 29th, 2026, we remember the victims of the deadly 2017 attack on the Quebec City Mosque: Mamadou Tanou Barry, Ibrahima Barry, Khaled Belkacemi, Aboubaker Thabti, Abdelkrim Hassane, and Azzeddine Soufiane, along with the survivors, including Aymen Derbali, and their loved ones. Today also marks the National Day of Remembrance and Action Against Islamophobia, so we also remember the Afzaal family, murdered in London, Ontario, and all victims of crimes motivated by Islamophobia.

In our coalition’s work to counter the harmful impacts of anti-terrorism laws, we see how tropes and stereotypes drive xenophobia and Islamophobia. We also see how Canadian government laws and actions, under the guise of combating terrorism, continue to result in the targeting, surveillance, othering and criminalization of Muslim communities, further entrenching Islamophobia. This includes the ongoing and unjustified impacts of counter-terrorist financing efforts on Muslim-led charities as well as international aid organizations working in Muslim-majority countries, undermining crucial support and services both at home and abroad.

We are also particularly alarmed by the actions of governments at all levels that threaten freedom of expression by limiting protest and dissent, and that have been aimed specifically at Palestinians and those who support Palestinian human rights and oppose the genocide in Gaza, and at Muslim communities more broadly. 

This includes the introduction of Bill C-9, the so-called Combatting Hate Act. The proposed legislation is supposedly aimed at preventing hate crimes but instead threatens the freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and right to dissent of all people in Canada, including those communities that the government says it wishes to protect.

While it is clear that more needs to be done across Canada to prevent violence motivated by hate, this cannot be accomplished through legislation or enforcement activities that label entire communities or movements as violent or as in support of terrorism. Such efforts must ensure that they do not further entrench Islamophobia or anti-Palestinian racism; disappointingly, many government efforts are currently failing at this task.

On today’s day of remembrance and action, we remind officials not only of the importance of tackling individual acts of Islamophobia and hatred, but that they must also address systemic racism and Islamophobia that exists within government, law enforcement and national security agencies. 

The International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group remains committed to combatting Islamophobia by working towards dismantling racist and discriminatory national security and anti-terrorism laws and policies, including by:

• Countering government officials’, politicians’ and the media’s continued false portrayal of Muslims, including refugees and migrants, as a “security threat”;
• Protecting the civil liberties of those who protest human rights abuses, including in support of Palestinian human rights;
• Rescinding national security programs that reinforce systemic Islamophobia, including the No Fly List and other border measures; the Terrorist Entities List; security certificates; and others;
• Advocating for justice for Canadian Muslims who have and continue to face the disproportionate brunt of anti-terrorism policies and the “War on Terror,” including Mohamed Harkat and his fight against deportation to torture in Algeria;
• Supporting Hassan Diab’s quest for justice and against a new extradition to France; Abousfian Adbelrazik, still fighting for justice regarding Canada’s complicity in his detention and torture in Sudan; and the repatriation of Canadian men, women and children in indefinite detention in northeastern Syria;
• Ending the CRA’s unfounded and prejudiced targeting of Muslim charities; and much more.

We will continue to work tirelessly with our coalition members and community partners to fight Islamophobia, racism, and all forms of hate, along with human rights and civil liberties abuses, in Canada and abroad.

To learn more about the origins, impacts and what you can do about Islamophobia in Canada, visit our resource page at: https://iclmg.ca/resources-against-islamophobia/

For more on the National Day of Remembrance and Action Against Islamophobia, visit:

https://www.facebook.com/commemoration.citoyenne

https://nccm.ca/greensquarecampaign/

Credit: Tom Bastin/Flickr CC BY 2.0

Here is what we’ve accomplished in the second half of 2025 thanks to your support:

Border bills C-2 & C-12

Bill C-2, the rights-violating Strong Borders Act, was tabled in June 2025. The legislation is anti-privacy, anti-migrant and anti-refugee and will make people across Canada less safe by arbitrarily limiting the ability of individuals to claim asylum in Canada, in violation of international human rights law; allowing for the mass cancellation or suspension of immigration documents and applications (ex: visas, permanent residency cards) for entire groups of people, including individuals from certain countries, based on undefined “public interest” reasons; allowing police and intelligence agencies warrantless access to our personal information, in violation of privacy rights; granting the government the power to issue secret orders to internet service providers to modify their systems to facilitate surveillance and possibly undermine encryption, placing our data at risk; allowing Canada Post to open and search our letter mail; and much more.

Bill C-12, the Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act, was tabled in October 2025 in response to critiques of C-2, particularly around privacy violations. The bill replicates Bill C-2’s anti-migrant and anti-refugee provisions, among others. With support of opposition parties, the Liberal government intends to pass Bill C-12 more quickly, while stating it will take more time to examine the remaining aspects of Bill C-2.

Over this time, the ICLMG has:

• Reacted quickly with a preliminary analysis of Bill C-2 which was broadly quoted by media and MPs in the House.
• Met with several partners to discuss, strategize and coordinate the fight against Bill C-2
• Created an action calling for Bill C-2 to be withdrawn, and updated it to oppose Bill C-12.
• Co-organized an open letter opposing C-2, signed by 176 organizations.
• Co-organized a press release and press conference announcing the call from 300 organizations for Bill C-2 to be withdrawn.
• Met with several MPs, government officials and ministerial staff to voice our concerns.
• Presented on C-2 in a community forum organized by the Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services.
• Attended briefings about C-2 organized by Public Safety, Justice Canada, and Finance.
• Co-organized and moderated a webinar attended by hundreds to stop Bill C-2.
• Signed onto a letter denouncing C-2 initiated by the Internet Society and published in the Hill Times.
• Participated in a press release denouncing Bill C-12, and supported a joint press conference against C-12 after many groups were blocked from testifying at committee.
• Sent briefs on C-12 to both CIMM and SECU committees.
• Spoke on a webinar entitled “Mapping the Threat: How Recent Federal Bills Would Erode Our Rights and Freedoms” organized by the Centre for Free Expression at the Toronto Metropolitan University.

Bill C-9: The “Combatting Hate” Act

Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act, was introduced in September 2025. The bill is aimed at preventing hate crimes but instead threatens the Charter rights and freedoms of all people in Canada, including those communities that the government wishes to help protect. Bill C-9 would give police discretionary powers to decide which symbols are “principally associated” with a listed terror entities as well as determine the motivations and intentions of protesters, and would create new categories of buildings and infrastructure around which these new rules would apply. These new powers, combined with increased jail sentences, will significantly undermine free expression and dissent, sending a chill amongst those who would otherwise take part in protests. The removal of the existing requirements for attorney general approval of laying hate propaganda charges compounds these concerns. This bill is highly alarming, especially in the context of the crackdown on Palestinian solidarity and anti-genocide protests.

Since it was introduced, ICLMG has:

• Met with several partners to discuss, strategize and coordinate the fight against Bill C-9
• Created an action calling for Bill C-9 to be withdrawn
• Organized a briefing on Bill C-9 hosted by Justice Canada
• Spoke at a webinar with Khaled Alqazzaz organized by CMPAC
• Appeared at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice re: Bill C-9
• Submitted a brief to the Justice committee
• Met with several MPs, government officials and ministerial staff to voice our concerns
• Spoke to several media about the bill
• Participated in a joint press conference hosted by Senator Woo
• Signed onto several joint letters calling for C-9 to be withdrawn
• Sent a letter to the Justice committee’s Chair urging him to rule out of order an amendment to C-9 that would have brought back a Charter-violating anti-terrorism offence, unrelated to C-9/combatting hate, bypassing debate and scrutiny at committee.
• Updated our action and sent a mass email urging people to denounce the addition of the above amendment to C-9. The amendment was removed!

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Impacts of Countering Terrorism Financing

We continue to be heavily engaged in monitoring and addressing the impacts of Canada’s counter terrorism financing regime, especially its effects on civil society, civic space and international assistance. Since May, we have:

• Attended an information session and discussion on Canada’s Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) Evaluation and the Role of Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs).
• Made a submission in advance of the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) upcoming on-site review of Canada’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) regime.
• Continued to engage in Finance Canada’s dialogue sessions with civil society, including:
  • attending the GoC-NPO Dialogue Session on derisking
  • meeting with Finance Canada to share feedback regarding the National Inherent Risk Assessment
  • attending and presenting on the impacts of financial service derisking on NPOs at the first ever NPO and Advisory Committee on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Dialogue
• Reacted to the much-anticipated report of the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA) on prejudiced audits of Muslim-led charities – an ICLMG recommendation from our 2021 report: New watchdog report finds government approach to counter-terror audits of Muslim charities is flawed, raises substantial concerns of bias and discrimination.
• Joined The Palestine Tribunal on Canadian Responsibility to speak about our work on how Canada’s counter terrorist financing regime is used to target, surveil, undermine and shut down Muslim-led charities and the impact that this has on support for and solidarity with Palestinians. We also denounced the several roadblocks targeting the event and some of its participants, including the hours-long detention and questioning by CBSA of guest speaker Richard Falk, a former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, at his arrival at the Toronto Pearson airport.

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