the Great Replacement Theory<\/a>, a white supremacist conspiracy theory that posits that liberal, Western governments are seeking to replace white people with non-white newcomers.<\/p>\n\u201cThis rhetoric around it being a Liberal plot; these are all dangerous, false narratives,\u201d Elghawaby told Al Jazeera, describing the comment made in Toronto as \u201cextremely worrying\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that it happens in the centre of one of the most multicultural, diverse cities of our country really puts to rest the idea that it\u2019s enough for people to be exposed to diversity,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Creating \u2018the Other\u2019<\/p>\n
Shaffni Nalir, the Toronto Islamic Centre\u2019s general manager, said the attacker asking, \u201cDid the Liberals bring you here?\u201d is \u201cvery definitely xenophobic in nature\u201d.<\/p>\n
But Nalir said the idea that Muslims in particular \u201cdon\u2019t belong\u201d in Canada was a key element of the attack, as well.<\/p>\n
The message, he told Al Jazeera, is that \u201cyou\u2019re not from here, that you are here as a hand-out, that you don\u2019t contribute\u201d.<\/p>\n
According to experts, that \u201cOther-ing\u201d of Canadian Muslims is an important factor in Islamophobic violence, as well as in how the authorities respond to such cases.<\/p>\n
\u201cMuslims are ascribed to be inherently violent. Muslims are ascribed to be barbaric, uncivilised, sitting outside the polity of Canada, which is a white, Western country,\u201d explained Fahad Ahmad, an assistant professor of criminology at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU).<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd because of that, I think interpersonal violence doesn\u2019t even register at the level it would if, say, for example, somebody attacked a Jewish person for them wearing a kippah or entering a synagogue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ahmad said a review of Canadian media coverage since late 2023 \u2013 as tensions have soared amid Israel\u2019s genocidal war on Gaza \u2013 showed a much higher number of stories focused on anti-Jewish threats and violence, compared with anti-Muslim ones.<\/p>\n
\u201cIslamophobia is seen as a lower-order problem,\u201d Ahmad told Al Jazeera. \u201cAnd if it\u2019s seen as a lower-order problem, then of course the resources that are going to be mobilised in response to that problem are going to be lower order.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Shaffni](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DSC_0359-1779714142.jpg\")
Shaffni Nalir, the Toronto Islamic Centre\u2019s general manager, says the mosque was shaken by a series of hateful incidents and threats [Jillian Kestler-D\u2019Amours\/Al Jazeera]Advisory council<\/p>\n
The Canadian government has repeatedly stated that it takes all forms of hate-motivated violence seriously, including Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.<\/p>\n
In 2024, Ottawa launched a so-called Action Plan on Combatting Hate, earmarking more than 270 million Canadian dollars ($191m) over six years for initiatives aimed at helping communities tackle the problem.<\/p>\n
The plan explicitly denounces \u201chate-motivated crimes and terrorist attacks\u201d, including the deadly, anti-Muslim violence seen in Quebec City and London, Ontario, over the past decade.<\/p>\n
But earlier this year, the Carney government said it was shuttering the offices of Canada\u2019s envoys to combat Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, respectively, to launch an advisory council on rights, equality and inclusion.<\/p>\n
The move drew criticism from the National Council of Canadian Muslims, which said it was \u201cdeeply disappointed\u201d that Elghawaby\u2019s office was being closed amid a continued \u201crise of Islamophobia in Canada\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Canadian Muslim community deserves sustained and dedicated leadership,\u201d the advocacy group said.<\/p>\n
In an email to Al Jazeera, a spokesperson for the Department of Canadian Heritage, which oversees the country\u2019s antiracism strategy, said the new advisory council will build on the work of the former anti-Semitism and Islamophobia envoys.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognise the prevalence of antisemitism and Islamophobia across the country, and we will continue to address these critical issues through Canada\u2019s Anti-Racism Strategy and Canada\u2019s Action Plan on Combatting Hate,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
It added that the new council will work to \u201cfoster social cohesion and bring communities together, to rally Canadians around shared identity, combat racism and hate in all their forms, and help guide the efforts of the Government of Canada\u201d.<\/p>\n
On June 1, Carney unveiled the makeup of the council, which will include former Senator Marc Gold, the former chair of the Canada-Israel Committee, a pro-Israel lobby group.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, back at the Toronto Islamic Centre, Nalir said the community had mobilised to protect itself amid a wave of recent threats.<\/p>\n
After Ahmed and his family were assaulted, another congregant was attacked nearby, prompting the mosque to implement a buddy system to ensure no one has to come to or leave the building alone. The incidents came after the mosque also received a threatening phone call.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were not going to wait around for more of our worshippers to be attacked. So, we were going to take our protection into our own hands, and that\u2019s the way we knew how,\u201d Nalir said.<\/p>\n
He added that, despite the incidents, members of the mosque \u201cdon\u2019t want to be seen as victims \u2026 We want to be seen as members of the community,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
Fourteen-year-old Ahmed said the same, stressing the importance of education in dispelling false stereotypes about Muslim Canadians. \u201cMuslims aren\u2019t what you hear in the media,\u201d he said. \u201cMuslims aren\u2019t different.\u201d<\/p>\n
*Some names have been changed for purposes of anonymity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Toronto, Canada \u2013 Ahmed* has made the trip to and from his local mosque in the heart of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98528,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[17,29646,34722,116,113,31067,48,438],"class_list":["post-98527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-canada","tag-islamophobia","tag-migration","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-racism","tag-toronto","tag-us-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DSC_0537-1779714160.jpg\")
A view of the Toronto Islamic Centre in Toronto, Canada [Jillian Kestler-D\u2019Amours\/Al Jazeera]\u2018Dangerous, false narratives\u2019<\/p>\n