Party Comparison
Combating Islamophobia
Liberal Party of Canada
- Strengthen investments in the Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence to combat all hate crimes. pg 48
- Present a National Action Plan on Combating Hate by 2022 as part of a renewed Anti-Racism Strategy. It will include recommendations from the Antisemitism and Islamophobia summits. It would include possible amendments to the Criminal Code, training and tools for public safety agencies, and investments to support digital literacy and prevent radicalization to violence.
- Introduce legislation within the first 100 days to combat serious forms of harmful online content, specifically hate speech, terrorist content, content that incites violence, to make sure that social media platforms and other online services are held accountable for the content that they host.
- Strengthen the Canada Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code to more effectively combat online hate. pg. 65
- Develop a new $50 million Changing Narratives Fund to empower diverse communities, including BIPOC journalists and creatives, with the tools to tell their own stories and promote diverse voices in arts and culture and across media.
- The Liberal party platform has not translated specific asks of the Muslim community or the Government’s commitments at the National National Action Summit on Islamophobia into platform commitments.
Conservative Party of Canada
- Fight online incitement and hatred by clearly criminalizing statements that encourage violence against other people or identifiable groups.
- Double funding for the Security Infrastructure Program and simplify the application process and remove the need to demonstrate risk, which often means that an institution has to experience a hate-motivated crime before being eligible for the program
- Allow funding to be used for a broader list of expenses, such as paying security guards and training volunteers.” pg. 92
- No direct mention of Islamophobia
New Democratic Party
- Will establish dedicated anti crime units in all major within local police forces
- Plan to convene a national working group to counter online hate
- Commitment to create a national action plan to dismantle far-right extremist organizations
- Convene a national working group to counter online hate and protect public safety, and make sure that social media platforms are legally responsible for the removal of hateful and extremist content. p 92-93
- Numerous mentions of Islamophobia in addressing hate speech and crimes
Systemic Racism
Liberal Party of Canada
- Strengthen and boost funding to both the AntiRacism Strategy and the Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat. pg 65
- Boost funding for community-led initiatives to promote inclusion and combat racism.
- Improve the quality and amount of data collection Statistics Canada does regarding hatecrimes in Canada, to help create effective andevidence-based policies.
- Additional $9 million investment over three years on existing research, support and employment projects for visible minority newcomer women. pg 47
- Acknowledge discrimination and racism in the police force and in the justice system and set plans to reform the RCMP and justice system including reintroducing Bill C-22 which reforms mandatory minimum sentences and tackle systemic discrimination within the first 100 days.
- Ensure stronger external oversight and bringing about cultural change the RCMP . pg. 66
Conservative Party of Canada
- No commitments have been made to address systemic racism
New Democratic Party
- Conduct a review of the existing employment equity regime to help close the racialized wage gap.
- Strengthen labour laws and ensure diverse and equitable hiring within the federal public service, and in federally-regulated industries” pg 99-100
National Security Legislation Reforms
Liberal Party of Canada
- No commitments have been made to reform national security legislation that has impacted Muslims since 9/11
Conservative Party of Canada
- No commitments have been made to reform national security legislation that has impacted Muslims since 9/11
New Democratic Party
- No commitments have been made to reform national security legislation that has impacted Muslims since 9/11
CRA Prejudiced Audits of Muslim Charities
Liberal Party of Canada
- Prior to the election the Minister of National Revenue called for a review of the CRA by the ombudsperson to investigate the Muslim community’s concerns, however, the primary ask of the community is a moratorium on CRA RAD’s audits of Muslim charities until a review is completed.
- The asks of the community to address the CRA’s prejudiced audits including the moratorium and a review have not been translated into commitments by the Liberal party, despite this matter being the #1 issue raised in the National Action Summit on Islamophobia.
- Since reports have been issued on this matter, the CRA RAD has taken sanctions against Human Concern International under the Liberal government’s watch.
Conservative Party of Canada
- Criticizes the CRA ‘s general practices and vow to reform it and revise CRA’s penalties so that first-time problems or errors receive only minor fines, with increasing severity for repeat offenders Pg. 22
- Reform “Direction and Control” regulation, ensuring accountability for spending without requiring projects in developing countries to be directly controlled by Canadian charities. pg. 113
- Make the Taxpayer Ombudsman an officer of Parliament with order-making authority. pg. 22
- No mention of the CRA’s prejudiced audits of Muslim charities.
- No commitment has been made to call for a moratorium of CRA RAD audits until an investigation is completed.
- Prior to the election the Conservatives issued a letter to the Minister of National Revenue calling for the government to ensure the CRA was not unfairly targeting Muslim charities.
New Democratic Party
- No commitments have been made to address the CRA’s prejudiced and biased audits of Muslim charities.
- Prior to the election the NDP issued a letter to the Minister of National Revenue calling for a moratorium of CRA RAD audits until an investigation is completed.
CBSA Oversight and Muslim Profiling
Liberal Party of Canada
- The 2019 platform issued by the Liberal Party included: “Reintroduce legislation to create a review body for the Canada Border Services Agency – the only remaining security agency that does not have its own independent review.” pg 39. The government attempted to pass new legislation twice.
- This has been REMOVED in the 2021 election platform.
Conservative Party of Canada
- No commitment has been made to establish oversight over the CBSA and address profiling of Muslims by the agency.
New Democratic Party
- No commitment has been made to establish oversight over the CBSA and address profiling of Muslims by the agency.
Immigration
Liberal Party of Canada
- Make applying for Canadian citizenship free for permanent residents. pg 75
- Introduce a permanent, dedicated refugee stream to provide safe haven for human rights advocates, journalists, and humanitarian workers at risk. pg. 67
- Continue to welcome more people to Canada, with a focus on attracting highly skilled workers and on placement within communities that need them most. pg 74
- Introduce electronic applications for family reunification.
- Implement a program to issue visas to spouses and children abroad while they wait for the processing of their permanent residency application, so that families can be together sooner. pg. 38
Conservative Party of Canada
- Promises massive reforms of immigration system
- Strengthens family reunification efforts. pg 125
- Launch a Credential Recognition Task Force to develop new timely and appropriate credential recognition strategies pg 127
- Create pathways to permanence for those already living and working in Canada, pg 128
- Replace public government-assisted refugee places with more private and joint sponsorship places. pg 129
New Democratic Party
- Improve foreign credentials recognition
- Make family reunification a priority.
- End the unfair cap on applications to sponsor parents and grandparents
- Reform the system to get rid of the backlog, and work with Canadians to resettle refugees in our communities pg. 91
Supporting Women and Families
Liberal Party of Canada
- Investing in $10 a day child care for all Canadian families.
- Reduce fees for child care by 50% in the next year.
- Deliver $10 a day child care within five years or less.
- Build 250,000 new high-quality child care spaces.
- Hire 40,000 more early childhood educators.
- Finalize agreements with all remaining provinces and territories. pg.16
- Continue the work initiated in the Gender-Based Violence Strategy and move forward with an additional $30 million investment to develop a National Action Plan. pg. 45
Conservative Party of Canada
- Convert the Child Care Expense deduction into a refundable tax credit covering up to 75% of the cost of child care for lower income families.
- Support working families with children by providing increased funding for child care.” pg 47
- Commitment to combat Gender based violence and close the existing gender pay gap
New Democratic Party
- Prioritize pay equity
- Deliver a National Action Plan to end gender-based violence
- Strife for affordable not-for-profit child care
- Tackle obstacles to women’s political participation” pg 95-96
Foreign Policy – Middle East
Liberal Party of Canada
- No commitments to improving Canada’s foreign policy in the Middle East, specifically on issues of human rights, democracy and humanitarian aid.
Conservative Party of Canada
- Appoint Canada’s first Muslim Ambassador and first Ambassador to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
- Expand support for the region’s vulnerable women, children and minorities with economic and democratic empowerment, education, and health as the basis for long term peace and security.
- Support the rebuilding of Beirut. pg 110
New Democratic Party
- No commitments to improving Canada’s foreign policy in the Middle East, specifically on issues of human rights, democracy and humanitarian aid.
Foreign Policy – Uyghur
Liberal Party of Canada
- No specific mention of Uyghur Muslims, however, the Liberal party has promised to work with G7, NATO, and likeminded partners to develop and expand collective responses to multiple issues in the international arena such as egregious violations of human rights and arbitrary detention, including through the use of sanctions pg. 70
Conservative Party of Canada
- Use Canada’s Magnitsky sanctions law to sanction China’s worst human rights offenders.
- Recognize the Uyghur genocide and encouraging our allies to do the same.
- Ban imports that have been produced using forced and enslaved Uyghur labour.
- Ban Huawei from Canada’s 5G infrastructure; investigate the company’s role in providing surveillance capabilities used against persecuted minorities in China including the Uyghurs. pg 107-108
New Democratic Party
- No specific mention of the Uyghurs but but they condemn China’s human rights abuses and promise to work with allies in response to those violations. pg 107
Foreign Policy – Palestine / Israel
Liberal Party of Canada
- No commitments to pressure Israel to stop its current policies on forced evictions, reinforce the sanctity of religious sites like the Al-Aqsa Mosque, safeguarding the lives of those under occupation who face unequal and disproportionate COVID-19, and supporting the rights of Palestinians at the United Nations.
- Over a hundred Canadian organizations signed letters to the Prime Minister to commit to the above.
Conservative Party of Canada
- Support two-state solution leading to a Palestinian state.
- Support the current religious status quo surrounding Al-Aqsa / Temple Mount – Enhance aid in a targeted manner in the areas of governance and institutional capacity building.
- Establish a Canada-Palestinian Territories Trust Account at the International Monetary Fund, with the objective of providing training and economic instruments upon the arrival of a two-state solution.
- Invest in the economic empowerment of Palestinian women and support economic and civil society projects and an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace.
- Expand trade initiatives and encourage economic cooperation between Canada and the Palestinian territories and, following the establishment of a Palestinian state, negotiate a separate free-trade agreement.
- Upgrade Canada’s representation to an embassy to a future Palestinian state. pg 109-110
- Boycott Durban IV in September 2021.
- Oppose the International Criminal Court’s involvement into bilateral Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
- Recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the Canadian embassy to Jerusalem. pg 108
- A direction and language of not providing true support to Palestinians until the two state solution is finalized
- Return Canada to its policy of “not singling out” Israel for criticism at the United Nations. pg 109
- Defund programs aligned against Canadian values (including those delivered by UNRWA ) unless it is significantly reformed and replace them with new education initiatives that uphold universal human dignity, pluralism, and peaceful coexistence. pg 112
New Democratic Party
- Work towards a just and lasting two state solution between Israel and Palestine that respects human rights and upholds international law. pg 108
- To suspend arms sales to Israel until the end of the illegal occupation. pg 108
Foreign Policy – Afghanistan
Liberal Party of Canada
- Will not recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
- Continue to support Afghan citizens through humanitarian assistance and to work with allies to protect democratic and human rights, including for women, girls, and minorities.
- Continue to facilitate the safe passage and resettlement of Afghan citizens and increase the number of eligible refugees from 20,000 to 40,000. pg 68
Conservative Party of Canada
- Will not recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
- They committed to the the continuation of aid while ensuring that it does not end up in the hands of the Taliban regime.
- Provide political and material support to Afghans resisting the Taliban (video statement by Erin O’toole)
New Democratic Party
- No intention to regocnize the Taliban as the legitmate government of Afghanistan.
- Committed to bring at risk Afghani refugees to Canada.
For more party platform comparisons on economy, education, healthcare, Indigenous affairs, immigration, climate change and senior affairs visit The Canadian Muslim Vote Party Platforms.