The vigil for the Afzaal family– one of the reasons for Mayor Ed Holder’s push to be a trendsetter in fighting Islamophobia. (Jess Gould/ XFM News).
The Act Respecting the Laicity of the State is better known as Bill 21. It prohibits the wearing of religious symbols in public institutions like schools, courts, and governmental bodies. It was enacted in 2019 and was upheld in 2021.
It is, simply put, controversial.
Miriam Hamou is London’s most recent councillor, representing Ward 6. Her first motion ever, was to oppose this bill.
“I was nominated in November and then this came along. And I was like, ‘Okay, so we’re, you know, we’re right out of the gate.'”
She along with Deputy Mayor Josh Morgan and Mayor Ed Holder, put forward a motion that did more than “send solidarity” to Quebecers. It proposed sending $100,000 to legal funds of a lawsuit against the bill. The lawsuit is led by the National Council of Canadian Muslims, the World Sikh Organization of Canada, and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
The motion passed on December 21st, though not unanimously and not without debate.
Every councillor stressed that they oppose Bill-21 and what it stands for. The real debate came with what the city can do. Ward 10 Councillor Paul Meerbergen doesn’t think this is a proper use of taxpayer money.
“We are the stewards of their money and just to take $100,000 and put it into some legal fund going after another government . . . The government of Quebec is not a more appropriate use of City of London property tax dollars.”
Ward 1 councillor Michael van Holst thought the same. As do other Londoners. Many think that this is a waste of money.
Regarding jurisdiction and what a city can or can’t do, Deputy Mayor Josh Morgan spoke up. He says that municipalities are always pushing the boundaries of their system. The fact is that some Londoners think it’s a good use of money, others don’t.
“Municipalities have always pushed jurisdictional boundaries . . .”
“This is a call to action that involves cities in in the absence of some federal action . . . It should come as no surprise that us, as a major Canadian city, is having this discussion and debate because they all will be . . . The comments about us taking hard earned learners money. I agree with the fact that every single dollar that we collect is someone’s hard earned money. Londoners disagree on how we spend their money all of the time. And there are many Londoners in our email inboxes, who say, I don’t want you to do this.”
There are Londoners who do think council should do this.
The push for sending this money comes from Mayor Ed Holder’s vow to end Islamophobia in London. That’s largely spurned by the Our London Family Tragedy. In putting forward this motion, Mayor Ed Holder said:
“2021 has been the most challenging year in so many ways for this council. And certainly part of that was that horrific racist terror attack six months ago, killing four members of our London community, our Muslim community, just because of the clothes that they they wore.”
This bill may be very far away from London when it comes to lines on a map or distance judged by kilometers—but regardless, it is very close to Londoners.
Councillor Hamou says, that for Londoners, this isn’t a Quebec issue.
“It’s not like we’re restricted from going there. But now some of us are restricted from working there. I mean, me being a councillor– I can’t wear hijab, I am in City Hall. That is like Insanity . . . Secularism wasn’t put into place to deny freedoms. Secularism was put into place to help people bring out their freedoms. So using secularism as a religion, trying to ban people based on this notion or idea. It does exactly what it’s not supposed to do.”
Officials with the City have put forward an action plan to tackle Islamophobia here in the city. A London for Everyone, the plan, is intended to be a benchmark for the city and beyond. This fight against Bill-21 is only a first step.
The proposed plan can be seen here.
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