A move by the Ontario New Democrats to ensure an anti-Islamophobia bill gets passed before the June provincial election has failed.
The NDP put forward a motion at Queen's Park on Wednesday to bring Bill 86, which is also known as the Our London Family Act, back from committee and passed into law. However, the bid failed to get unanimous consent from the legislature.
New Democrat MPP Faisal Hassan tabled the new legislation targeting Islamophobia and other hate crimes last month in a bill co-sponsored by London MPPs Teresa Armstrong, Terence Kernaghan, and Peggy Sattler. But instead of quick passage, Conservative MPPs opted to send the proposed legislation to the standing committee on justice policy.
Both the Liberals and Green Party have voiced support for the bill.
If passed, it would ensure a provincial review of hate crimes and hate-motivated incidents in the province, create a safe zone around religious institutions and places of worship, and prevent white supremacist groups from registering as societies. It would also establish an Ontario anti-racism advisory and advocacy council to advise on government policies and empower the Speaker of the House to ban protests at Queen’s Park that incite racist, homophobic, transphobic or xenophobic hate.
With the Our London Family Act, named in honour of a Muslim family killed in a hate-motivated attack in London last June, stuck in committee it is unlikely to be passed before the legislature is dissolved for the provincial election. Proposed bills not approved into law before that happens will die and thus have to be reintroduced once a new government has been formed.
NDP leader Andrea Horwath said she was 'very disappointed' the Ford government voted down Wednesday's motion.
"Stopping Islamophobia and hate can’t wait. We won't give up the fight to urgently pass this bill," Horwath tweeted.
I'm very disappointed the Ford government voted down our motion today, calling for the #OurLondonFamily Act to be brought back now and passed before the next election.
— Andrea Horwath (@AndreaHorwath) March 9, 2022
Stopping Islamophobia and hate can’t wait. We won't give up the fight to urgently pass this bill. #ONpoli pic.twitter.com/TA5j7lNkhH
Premier Doug Ford was non-committal as to whether he and his government would support the bill when asked about it while in Dorchester two weeks ago.
"We’re reviewing the legislation... We will continue to work with all the communities in combating hate,” Ford said. "We’ll have further words to say about that in the very near future.”
The NDP bill was crafted with the assistance of the National Council of Canadian Muslims and addressed recommendations made at the National Summit on Islamophobia held last year. The summit aimed to establish concrete actions governments could take to combat Islamophobia after the June 6, 2021 attack on the Afzaal family.
Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, their 15-year-old daughter Yumna Afzaal and 9-year-old son Fayez Salman, and Salman Afzaal’s 74-year-old mother Talat Afzaal were out for an evening walk on that date when a pickup truck mounted the curb at Hyde Park and South Carriage roads and hit them before speeding off. Fayez Salman was the lone survivor of the attack.