Reactions from Canadian Ethnic Media to the Quebec City Mosque Shooting

Source: CBC

By Lucas de Oliveira Haag

The shooting at a Quebec City mosque, which killed six people and seriously injured many others, was characterized as a terrorist act by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and it has produced a range of reactions throughout the Canadian Ethnic Media. Condemnation is the one word that unanimously stands out, according to Harjinder Thind at Gaunda Punjab CIRV FM 88.9 (01/02/2017), who stresses that the way in which all Canadians, including those from Quebec, have stood beside Muslim Canadians and supported them is really amazing. Except for a very few, no one has ignored the attack and everyone said that it is against Canadian values and should be strongly condemned, added the Radio Broadcaster.

Marco Luciani Castiglia - Francesca La Marca said Canada's multiculturalism and tolerant society were hit in Quebec just as new walls are being built south of the border (CFMB AM 1280, Italian Morning, 03/02/2017). The actual shooter was Alexandre Bissonnette, a Trump fan with right-wing, pro-Israel ideas and strong opinions on immigration (Chinese Readers, 30/01/2017). The attack has stoked growing fears among Canadian Muslims amid calls for increased security and awareness about the power of hate speech. During a talk show on Red FM 93.1 Punjabi Morning Show, a few callers asked why it is always people from Asian and Muslim countries who fall victim to racism and why they are not considered equal to the mainstream population by some.

Despite Canada’s pride in its national tolerance and welcome for thousands of refugees in recent years, Quebec City’s population apparently does not share the same values. Islamic writer Haroon Siddiqui from The Muslim Times (01/02/2017) believes that Quebec City has developed the dubious reputation of being Canada’s ­capital of shock jocks, online ­radio hosts who love to provoke with outrageous talk about women, homosexuals and Muslims. The province drafted legislation last year to ban face-coverings in the public sector in a move criticized as marginalizing Muslim women and potentially inflaming anti-immigrant tensions. According to Montreal Chinese website La Presse Chinoise, Calgary researcher Shirley Steinberg said that people living in homogenous and isolated communities are more susceptible to extreme right-wing ideologies. People also have talked about the difference between Quebec and the rest of Canada. Quebec has outwardly nurtured Islamophobia for at least a decade.

Most of the multilingual segment of the Canadian social media and its audience agree with Trudeau’s belief nailing the issue to terrorism and Islamophobia. According to Indian American Muslim Council spokesperson Musaddique Thange, the two incidents are part of a "pattern of vicious and hateful violence against Muslims" (India Abroad, 10/02/2017). Additionally, a few ethnic media representatives go beyond racism and extremism to express their thoughts on the shooting. Talking to PTC Punjabi, a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosque Mississauga described the attack as a crime against humanity and said that no religion teaches us hatred (TV - PTC North America, 01/02/2017). Jorge Correia from a Voz de Portugal goes deeper, stressing that intolerance and fear remain to be discussed and there is talk of radicalization, but it is a bit misplaced because violence is just violence. It is a folly that strikes anyone, Correia concludes. According to the pastor of Brampton’s Heart Lake Baptist Church, Dr. Terry Atkinson, it is time to come out, show unity, and support, and respect one another (South Asian Focus, 06/02/2017).

In contrast with the whole awareness around the event in Quebec City, it’s still possible to hear the voice of intolerance echoing within the social media, as seen in a comment from a 51.ca (05/02/2017) reader stressing that Chinese people just don’t want Canada to keep accepting Muslim refugees with a disregard for national security. Muslims cannot live in peace with any other civilization (Chinese Readers, 30/01/2017). One anonymous commenter says that Canada needs to experience more terrorist attacks in order for 'Potato' (Prime Minister Justin Trudeau) to step down (BCbay.com, Chinese, 30/01/2017).

---