Toronto elections marred by controversy and Islamophobia

Council candidate Mohammad Uddin's campaign indicators defaced. (Photo: @voteforuddin)

Islamophobia directed at Council and School Board candidates have added to the controversy around the mayoral race in the world's most multicultural city.

Toronto held municipal elections yesterday, with the citizens of Canada's largest city choosing a new mayor, city councilors and school trustees after a grueling months-long campaign.

While the entire Canadian Province of Ontario held elections on the same day, the race in Toronto has attracted all the attention not only because it is the largest city in the country, but also due to the antics of Toronto Mayor, Rob Ford. Ford, who was seeking re-election before a cancer diagnosis forced him to drop out of the race, drew global attention after admitting that he had smoked crack cocaine "while in a drunken stupor."

After more than a year of denying his addition, the embattled mayor checked himself into a rehabilitation facility in May and his City Councillor brother, Doug, was on the ballot to replace Rob as mayor. [ed. He lost.]

Beyond the media circus around the Ford's, other contoversies have emerged from these elections including reports of Islamophobic targetting of at least three Muslim candidates in what is widely regarded as one of the 'multicultural' cities in the world.

Candidate for the Toronto District School Board, Ausma Malik, first reported case a smear campaign directed at her, claiming she is a “radical terrorist sympathizer.” Malik, who wears the hijab and has been a supporter of Palestinian human rights, says that flyers with alarming messages direct against her have been distributed, and that she has also been verbally accosted.

Last Friday, local media reported that a driver from a well-known courier company hurled garbage and shouted “terrorist” at a group of volunteers putting up signs for Munira Abukar, a young Somali-Canadian woman running for Council. Earlier in the month, news surfaced that a number of Abukar's signs had been defaced with the words “Go Back Home.”

Another council candidate, Mohammad Uddin claims that he has also been the target of a steady stream of “Islamophobic” insults. Last week he tweeted a series of photos of his campaign signs defaced with different racist messages like “Fuck Islam” and “No Islamics at City Hall.”

“As I believe Canada is a country of love and peace, we shall not accept any racism in our soil, we live with harmony,” Uddin published in his Twitter account.

According to Canada's latest National Household Survey, there were 1,053,945 Muslims in Canada, which represents about 3.2% of the total population. In Toronto, 7.7% of the population is Muslim, making it the highest concentration of Muslims in any city in North America.

Source URL