BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 5. The National Council of Canadian Muslims has called on the Canadian government to take concrete steps and implement comprehensive reforms to address rising anti-Muslim sentiment, or Islamophobia, in the country TurkicWorld reports via AA.
The Muslim group recalled the June 2021 attack in the city of London, Ontario, where a man drove his vehicle into a Muslim family, killing four people.
It said the incident demonstrated that Islamophobia remains a deep-rooted and systemic problem in Canada.
The statement noted that Canada continues to record the highest number of deadly attacks targeting Muslims among G7 countries and said the issue requires urgent action.
The group also issued a handbook on addressing Islamophobia.
Through the handbook, the council called for comprehensive institutional reforms to better protect Muslims in Canada, the establishment of effective accountability mechanisms, and concrete government action.
On June 6, 2021, an attacker drove a pickup truck into a Muslim family of five walking on a sidewalk in London, Ontario.
The attack killed 74-year-old grandmother Talat Afzaal, her 46-year-old son Salman Afzaal, his 44-year-old wife Madiha Salman, and their 15-year-old daughter Yumna Salman.
The family's 9-year-old son, Fayez Salman, was seriously injured.
The attacker, 22-year-old Nathaniel Veltman, was arrested on Cherryhill Boulevard, about 3.7 miles from the scene.
Police said the attack was "premeditated" and "motivated by hate," while then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described it as a "terrorist attack."
Veltman was sentenced to life imprisonment in February 2024 on charges of murder and attempted murder.
