Hon. Mary Coyle: Senator Gold, last evening our colleague Senator Mohamed Ravalia hosted us for a magnificent community celebration of Ramadan. Unfortunately, a recent Angus Reid Institute study found that 39% of Canadians hold a negative — or very negative — view of Islam, and that Canadians are more negative toward Islam than any other faith. It also found that half of Canadians believe that Canada does not have a problem with Islamophobia, with those who view Islam negatively being the most likely to say that there is no problem.

Globally, many Muslim communities are the targets of state-sanctioned discrimination, as we know is the case with the genocide of the Uyghurs in China and the Rohingya of Myanmar.

As we know, our Senate Human Rights Committee is currently studying Islamophobia in Canada. Last week, Senator Greenwood and I attended the first in-person parliamentary briefings on the occasion of the United Nations’ first International Day to Combat Islamophobia — we heard the disturbing statistics and personal stories.

Senator Gold, what is the Government of Canada doing to combat Islamophobia, and ensure that Muslim people in Canada feel — and are — safe and welcome?