Hussein Hoballah
This week the Globe and Mail revealed that the RCMP and CRA were paying informants within the biggest Islamic organisation in Canada to fake a terrorist-funding case that could be used against the organisation, and that they were trying to use “sex as a bait” to set up one of the organisation executives. News was also reported on infiltrating the organisation, and all that isn’t a surprise. After all, some security corps seem to be ready to justify bending or breaking rules, claiming to be protecting national security this way.
It’s true that security corps have the right to protect national security from destabilisation and conduct pre-emptive operations, and that they should be cooperated with because there’s no compromise when it comes to security. But to set citizens up or blackmail them - like the well-known newspaper has reported – is disturbing and frustrating in a country which praises individual freedom and the protection guaranteed by the constitution.
If the Globe and Mail’s report turns out true concerning what happened to MAC, the incidents must be called out by the highest authorities in Canada. If the report is validated, it means that it has been officially authorised to target a big portion and basic constituent of the Canadian fabric – a portion that has been being attacked, killed and subjected to systemic hate since 9/11. It also means that a step must be made to rebuild confidence in government institutions, the ruling class and particularly the Liberals, whom our community has confided in, voted for at every election and deemed supportive to us (and to most immigrants) since we started creating community in Canada. The recent information citing targeting Canada’s biggest Islamic association (MAC) means further destruction of our community’s relationship with the Liberal Party, which might never get mended if officials do not act immediately to reveal the truth and take the necessary measures.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has confirmed he’s open to conducting an independent investigation, and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, whose scope of authority includes the RCMP, said he was in contact with law-enforcement authorities and learnt they were conducting their inquiries. Mendicino said if anyone was found guilty of purposefully targeting MAC, consequences would ensue.
Today, our community members feel they are being targeted on purpose and are worried and frustrated that this is happening to us and to our biggest associations. MAC, for instance, runs at least 22 mosques and community centres and 30 schools in 13 cities. When MAC’s unlawfully targeted, that means an association with impressive, charitable and comprehensive work is being targeted, so how about smaller associations in different cities and provinces, which are thought to be targeted as well?
There are people in our community who are saying there are groups that don’t wish to see us being active, well-integrated in society or involved in the political reality. They’re saying our institutions are being unlawfully hit because those groups want to hinder our activity.
Until the promised investigations are held and findings are revealed to calm our community’s and MAC’s fears, and until it is confirmed that security corps are working lawfully and not targeting any Canadian constituents on the basis of their religious background, we make some notes that officials and community activists need to consider:
Firstly, this style isn’t new to the security corps here. For instance, in the US, which maintains huge security collaboration with the Canadian security corps, a security group successfully recruited a CAIR official, who leaked information from CAIR to the security group and was eventually discharged by CAIR. Unforgettably, it was the US government that declared war on Iraq, killing hundreds of thousands, and that war was based on a lie, as the Americans later admitted. The history of the collaboration of the US-Canadian security corps is unforgettable, too, especially when Canada is often disallowed to object. Maher Arar’s case, for instance, is one of the many examples.
Besides, a lot of news has been being shared concerning targeting our active institutions by Canada’s security corps and CRA, and issues that haven’t been raised before are being raised now by some activists, who spoke during closed sessions before and after MAC news broke this week… A prominent community leader says that different women have tried to set him up but that he didn’t fall for them. Another person has conveyed to a well-known community organisation, via a third party, that a Canadian security corps asked him to establish close ties with the organisation and work with it to report on its funds and the nature of its internal work. Furthermore, a community member, who had a hard time getting his permanent residence after he had committed a misdemeanour, has spoken about the security corps’ proposal that he work for them in return for facilitating his permanent residence. A clergyman as well mentioned that someone had asked him to hand over amounts of money to groups deemed ‘terrorist’ by Canada; it turned out later that the requester had been ‘pushed to do so’ and had suspicious relationships. An activist from one of our community organisations told a close friend that he had found out that a woman had been stalking him and filming all his moves. She even stayed at the doorway of the hotel where she was staying to keep an eye on where he went to and came from. There are dozens more of cases that are kept unrevealed because the concerned parties fear reprisal, including cases where security corps have asked those people to do inside work for them or even to travel to their homelands and collect footage and information that a state which is different from Canada would make use of.
Thirdly: Ministers and MPs supposed to be representative of our community have acted oddly. Minister of Housing, Diversity and Inclusion Ahmed Hussen has refused to comment on MAC’s issue, saying the case was before the judiciary, which is contrary to the reality. Other MPs have remained silent as if the whole situation didn’t matter, which makes us wonder what their roles are and whether they really represent our community or not. A prominent activist who’s also a friend of MAC’s says the MPs will bear the consequences of their standpoints in the future. Anyway, this is an issue that must be highlighted and is being raised by our community.
Fourthly: The government needs to deal with this issue seriously; belittling it will diminish our community’s support in the next elections and will make it reconsider its earlier choices, especially if investigations prove the allegations are true.
Though CRA, RCMP and the Bank of Canada have all claimed the documents sent to MAC are forged, and the supposed e-mailers have sworn they didn’t send those e-mails, the entire issue necessitates a quick investigation. Therefore, Prime Minister Trudeau is urged to take action to reveal the truth and handle things lawfully and sincerely to rebuild our community’s lost confidence and relieve our fears and frustration.
Fifthly: The officials in charge need to put an end to the way some corps and officers deal with our community, who are being targeted by hateful and suspicious campaigns and are constantly dealt with as suspects that threaten Canadian security. Otherwise, how do we explain CRA’s and the Canadian security corps’ continuous targeting of the active Islamic organisations? In fact, a well-known community leader confirms that “whoever in the Muslim community seeks to be active is targeted and placed under scrutiny and pressure, just like what’s happened to MAC and other Islamic associations.”
Sixthly: Obvious discrimination exists, and our community is belittled. After the MAC news broke, activists brought to mind the government’s sluggishness to assign a representative to combat Islamophobia, contrary to its hurriedness to assign a representative to combat anti-Semitism and provide him with a big budget. This is though Muslims are in serious danger; they have been openly targeted, and many of them have been killed in different cities. Different groups have actually urged the government “not to take longer to assign a representative if it has serious intentions to combat Islamophobia.”
Perhaps there’s a bright side to the MAC story; this may open up new paths for our Muslim community, who make a basic constituent of the Canadian fabric, and who have an effective role in different sectors in most Canadian cities. The Liberals should take the initiative and relieve our community’s fears with “serious steps and not the usual procrastination,” like an influential community leader says.