Below are the recommendations of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights’ report entitled Combatting Hate: Islamophobia and its impact on Muslims in Canada.[1]

Recommendation 1

That the Government of Canada ensure that mandatory, regular training on Islamophobia and unconscious bias is in place for all employees throughout the federal government and its agencies, and that similar training is made available to the federal judiciary.

Recommendation 2

That the Department of Canadian Heritage develop a multimedia campaign and educational resources on Islamophobia that can be incorporated into classroom activities for various age groups, as well as professional training within the federal public service.

Recommendation 3

That the Government of Canada provide additional funding to address hate-motivated crimes, including to:

•   directly support affected individuals and communities;
•   support the development of national police standards and training, including specialized training for dedicated hate crime units;
•   provide more tools and resources to police forces to help them respond to hate crimes and hate-motivated incidents;
•   introduce a federal hotline for reporting hate-motivated crimes in cooperation with all existing provincial versions, raise awareness of the hotline, collect and regularly publish data, and train operators to refer callers to a range of federal and local services; and
•   enhance the Security Infrastructure Program, including by simplifying and providing additional support during the application process, considering a rebate-based system to ensure that communities have timely access to funding, and reducing the 50% cost-sharing requirement.

Recommendation 4

That the Department of Justice undertake public consultations – with a particular focus on affected communities – and introduce amendments to create specific Criminal Code offences for hate-motivated crimes.

Recommendation 5

That the Department of Canadian Heritage undertake a review of the role and effectiveness of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in fulfilling its mandate with respect to the broadcasting policy for Canada, particularly the requirement to reflect the needs, interests and aspirations of racialized communities.

Recommendation 6

That the Department of Justice introduce legislation to provide a mechanism for human rights complaints relating to online hate similar to former section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act to ensure that individuals have timely access to justice.

Recommendation 7

That a parliamentary committee undertake a comprehensive review of Canada’s national security framework, as required by the National Security Act, 2017, and that this review include a particular focus on how to ensure proactive and meaningful transparency, and take into account systemic Islamophobia.

Recommendation 8

That the Department of Finance update the National Inherent Risk Assessment using the lens of intersectional Islamophobia.

Recommendation 9

That the Government of Canada introduce legislation requiring the Canada Revenue Agency to collect and publish data on religious organizations subject to audits and revocations, and to analyze such data to develop a strategy to reduce bias.

Recommendation 10

That the Minister of National Revenue review the mandate and functioning of the Review and Analysis Division of the Canada Revenue Agency, taking into account the conclusions of the pending review by the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency.

Recommendation 11

That the Department of Justice introduce legislation to establish an independent civilian body to review decisions of the Canada Revenue Agency’s Charities Directorate and provide timely decisions on appeals.

Recommendation 12

That the Department of Justice introduce legislation to modernize the Employment Equity Act, including to ensure that intersectionality and Islamophobia are taken into account.

Recommendation 13

That Statistics Canada further invest in the proactive collection and dissemination of disaggregated data to better enable decision makers to take intersectional Islamophobia into account.