Islamophobia In Canada

Nowadays the globalization has brought a lot of different cultures together. While people may have used to live in more or less culturally isolated societies, this is no longer a case in the twenty first century. Muslim immigrants became more numerous in the Western world. Especially since the September 11 attacks, lives of Muslim communities living in Western countries have been examined more closely. Many Muslim political leaders have pointed to the existence of Islamophobia, or an irrational fear or prejudice towards Islam and Muslims, as the cause for discrimination against Muslims. The literature on Islamophobia has grown, various governmental programs have been implemented to repress it, while scholars developed means to measure it as

The Muslim population in Canada has increased exponentially in the last 20 years, driven primarily by immigration. It is expected to increase to 2.7 million by 2030, or a projected 6.6% of the total population. According to an Environics survey on Canadian Muslims in 2006, about 60% of all Muslims in Canada live in Ontario. Although census data from Statistics Canada is based on the 2011 census, it gives us some idea of the general characteristics of the Canadian Muslim population and the changes over time. In 2011, slightly over 1 million individuals identified themselves as Muslim, representing 3.2% of the nation's total population. Two-thirds of Canada's 1 million Muslim population lived in the three largest census metropolitan areas combined - Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver. Toronto had the largest population of Muslims, at just over 424,900. Montréal had just over 221,000 and Vancouver about 73,200. Most of the Muslim immigrants came from Pakistan and most of them, according to Employment Equity Act, represent visible

They stressed being involved and engaged with other groups and communities, taking the opportunity to speak up and to dispel stereotypes through their actions as individuals. Most of them were highly involved in their local communities currently, some in interfaith work, some with local volunteer groups, and others through their professional roles as educators. As one Muslim woman put it, “That’s why you have to go out and you have to speak and you have to talk. And those people who can write need to write. And say, just because I’m Muslim doesn’t make me a terrorist. Just because I’m a woman doesn’t make me a Muslim who can’t speak.” However, some Muslims may not agree with such point of view. This somewhat resembles situation when American Muslims were expected to apologize for 9/11 terrorist act. Many American Muslims were offended by such expectations because they had nothing to do with the act itself. Furthermore, they condemned it just as much as any other American. Later, possibly, even more so because it (as described earlier) influenced their daily life greatly, significantly more than other non-Muslim American as it was demonstrated in 30 Days TV series shown during the week