Muslim community leaders in Canada have renewed demands from the government to deal with Islamophobia a year after four members of a Muslim family were killed in a terrorist hate attack.
Faraan: They met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and lawmakers in the capital, Ottawa, on Monday to call for meaningful measures to address persisting Islamophobia and hate crimes in the British Commonwealth nation.
The demand came a year since four members of the Afzaal family were killed in London, Ontario in a heinous terrorist attack. It also came a day after thousands of local residents took to the streets for a protest rally. The incident occurred last June, when 20-year-old Nathaniel Veltman deliberately slammed his pick-up truck into Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha, 44, his 74-year-old mother Talat, their 15-year-old daughter Yumna and their 9-year-old son Faez as they waited to cross the road. Only Faez survived the brutal attack.
Veltman is facing four counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and terrorism charges. His trial is set to begin in September 2023, according to local press reports. Driver plows truck into a Muslim family of five, killing four of them in an attack in London, Ontario. The Toronto police chief confirmed at the time that the victims were “targeted because of their Islamic faith.”
On Sunday, Trudeau attended the London march. “This afternoon in London, thousands of people showed up to honour the Afzaal family; to be there for Fayez, who survived; and to march against Islamophobia,” he tweeted. “In memory of #OurLondonFamily, we must keep working together and using every tool we have to combat this hatred,” Trudeau added. Later Monday, he tweeted a photo of a meeting with delegates from the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM).
