The Great White North hardly registers as a hotbed for Islamic political activity. Yet in the run-up to last June's Canadian federal elections, Islamic lobbies exerted unprecedented pressure on electoral candidates and actively pursued the emergence of a Muslim voting bloc.
A key player among the seemingly endless list of Islamic groups and lobbies operating in Canada is the Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC). The CIC is a numerically small yet extremely prolific outfit presided by Egyptian-born Mohammed Elmasry.
Two full months prior to the declaration of general elections, the CIC published a report named "Election 2004. Towards Informed and Committed Voting." Based on an analysis of public statements, electoral objectives and legislative voting records of each of Canada's 301 elected parliamentarians, the CIC evaluated each one's record on issues such as the promotion of closer economic ties to Muslim countries and the championing the Palestinian cause.
While virtually all the MPs of the New Democratic Party, a party strongly opposed to American foreign policy and critical of Israel, scored passing grades, 68 out of 71 of the pro-American, pro-Israel Conservative Party's MPs failed the CIC's evaluation.
The ruling Liberal Party MPs scored an average of B. The report identified 101 electoral districts where Canadian Muslims hold a 1.8% to 13.5% swing vote. The report was sent to all MPs and their opponents.
A few days ahead of the federal elections, three Canadian Muslim leaders met at Concordia University in Montreal to discuss Islamic "committed voting." The event, however, turned into an anti-Zionist, Jew-bashing fest.
The meeting's tone could be felt at the hall's entrance: flyers calling to boycott Mount- Royal Liberal deputy and Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, a human rights lawyer who defended such political prisoners as Nelson Mandela and Natan Sharansky and a strong advocate of Israel's right to defend its citizens from Palestinian terrorism.
Bearded men and hijab-clad women filled the room. A handful of representatives from the Canadian Marxist-Leninist Party also attended, nodding in sync to all the speakers' statements. I was the only reporter present.
CIC President Mohammed Elmasry opened the meeting by saying: "The Conservatives' strong performance in recent polls should alarm Muslims" since, in his view, Conservative leader Stephen Harper espouses an extreme-right agenda. Mohammad Sherif Kamel of the Canadian Muslim Forum sounded the same warning bell: "The Conservatives are so right-wing they put Bush to shame; its members are all racists and Zionists."
In addition to defeating the Conservatives, the Muslim leaders want to shake Canadian Muslims out of their electoral apathy. While the last national voting rate hovered around 60%, it was below 50 % among Muslims. Elmasry warned Muslims that if they refrain from voting, "we will end up with anti-hijab laws, and just like in France, will need to ask the police for a permit to pray in our workplace."
CIC President Elmasry explained that thanks to the report he commissioned, Muslims were projecting political power for the first time in Canada's history: "All MPs and their opponents know we are watching them. But don't believe that all deputies who scored well are happy about it. Many resent, for obvious reasons, being associated too closely with Muslims."
These "obvious reasons" were made
explicit by Kamel: "The Zionists and corporations run the show in Canada,
the Zionist Global Television and the Issi Asper Foundation want to form
our minds and the next government."