'Kill her and be done with it': MP behind anti-Islamophobia motion reads out hate mail
Iqra Khalid says she fears for safety because of response to M-103 condemning religious discrimination
The Liberal MP who tabled an anti-Islamophobia motion says she has been inundated with hate mail and death threats.
Mississauga, Ont. MP Iqra Khalid told the House of Commons Thursday she received more than 50,000 emails in response to M-103, many of them with overt discrimination or direct threats.
"I have asked my staff to lock the office behind me as I now fear for their safety," she said. "I have asked them not to answer all phone calls so they don't hear the threats, insults and unbelievable amount of hate shouted at them and myself."
She described a "chilling" video posted on YouTube that called her a terrorist sympathizer and disgusting human being.
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"'I'm not going to help them shoot you, I'm going to be there to film you on the ground crying. Yeah, I'll be there writing my story with a big fat smile on my face. Ha ha ha. The Member got shot by a Canadian patriot,'" she read, quoting from the video.
And that, she said, was just tip of the iceberg. Here are some other messages she received and read in the House:
- "Kill her and be done with it. I agree she is here to kill us. She is sick and she needs to be deported."
- "We will burn down your mosques, draper head Muslim."
- "Why did Canadians let her in? Ship her back."
- "Why don't you get out of my country? You're a disgusting piece of trash and you are definitely not wanted here by the majority of actual Canadians."
Khalid said she has also received many messages of support.
The private members' motion she tabled, M-103, calls on the government to condemn and eliminate "Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination."
MPs debated an Opposition motion Thursday that was tabled by Saskatchewan Conservative MP David Anderson. His motion mirrors M-103, but removes the reference to Islamophobia and instead references six main faiths practised in Canada.
'Horrific hate speech'
Conservative MP and leadership candidate Erin O'Toole praised Khalid for being brave enough to read the passages of what he called "horrific hate speech."
Khalid is not the first politician to face insults and threats. Alberta Conservative MP Michelle Rempel is known to take on "Twitter trolls" and call them on their sexist messages.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has also endured homophobic and sexist slurs.
Thursday evening Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly told CBC News Network's Power & Politics that she too had been on the receiving end of online abuse.
"Since I've presented the governments' response on this, I have myself been receiving lots of emails and trolls of people that have been presenting such outrageous comments," she said.