Human rights report paints bleak picture of discrimination in Quebec

A Muslim woman says she was stopped by three people on the street one night in Montreal. They pulled on her hijab, knocked her to the ground and kicked her.

Another, riding the Metro, was told Halloween had been two weeks ago and that she should go back to Afghanistan.

A black woman living in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean said she was called a "gorilla" on several occasions and told to "go back to her country."

These are among the instances of physical and verbal abuse, vandalism and death threats documented in a new 327-page report on racism and Islamophobia in Quebec. 

The qualitative report, prepared by Quebec's Human Rights Commission and released Tuesday, paints a bleak picture of the level of discrimination in the province between 2007 and 2017.

It is not meant to be a comprehensive statistical analysis.

Researchers with the commission interviewed 86 people in Quebec who say they were the victims of hateful acts, along with representatives of 47 organizations and six police services across the province.

The individuals interviewed, who identify as people of colour or religious minorities, are not named in the report.

According to Statistics Canada, the number of reported hate crimes has climbed in recent years. It went up 49 per cent in 2017, the year of the mass shooting at the Quebec City mosque.

Many incidents go unreported: researchers

Houda Asal, one of the researchers, said many of the victims did not report the incidents to police. 

"They don't have a lot of trust in the system, specifically in police services," she said.

"The government needs to recognize and fight against this phenomenon in as many ways as possible."

Among its recommendations, the commission said the government needs to acknowledge the "gravity" of the problem and take steps to address it by launching a public awareness campaign against discrimination.

It also recommends better tracking of hateful acts and improved training for police to ensure they take the issue seriously.

The report was commissioned by Quebec's previous Liberal government.

Asked if they were concerned Quebec's new law banning many public workers from wearing religious symbols had heightened Islamophobia in the province, researchers declined to comment.

Justice Femme, an advocacy group for Muslim women, reported a sharp increase in harassment directed at women who wear the hijab since the Coalition Avenir Québec tabled the legislation earlier this year. 

Public Security Minister Geneviève Guilbault said the CAQ government will look closely at the report.

"It is important to denounce hate crimes, and I know that police forces across the province take that very seriously," she said.