Canadian Liberals block opposition's anti-racism motion to pass their own

Canada's governing Liberals on Tuesday torpedoed a Conservative anti-racism motion at the House of Commons so they can pass their own version.

Last week, Conservative member of parliament (MP) David Anderson introduced a new motion on top of Liberal MP Iqra Khalid's M-103 motion, removing any reference to "islamophobia" and broadened Khalid's motion to "condemn all forms of systemic racism, religious intolerance, and discrimination of Muslims, Jews, Christians, Sikhs, Hindus, and other religious communities."

Samer Majzoub, president of the Montreal-based Canadian Muslim Forum, said that the Conservative motion was a watered-down version of M-103.

By presenting an alternative motion, the opposition Conservatives are trying to "delegitimize" and "degrade" the Liberal motion, which won't be voted on until April, Majzoub told a news conference on Parliament Hill on Tuesday.

However, the Conservatives argue that the term "islamophobia" is too vague, singles out only one religion, and would stifle any criticism of the more extremist elements of Islam.

MPs with the left-of-center opposition New Democratic Party (NDP), who voted for the Conservative motion on Tuesday and plan to also support Liberal Khalid's, accuse both parties of playing politics with the issue.

The Muslim and all communities affected by bigotry "expect us to be above this fray and to get down to work and see what we can do concretely to stop the dissemination of hatred and discrimination," said the NDP's Matthew Dube, who represents a federal Quebec riding in the House.

Last week, MPs debated Khalid's M-103 motion. Kalid, a Muslim of Pakistani origin, described how she was treated when she came to Canada as a young girl in the 1990s. Some of her schoolmates would yell at her "Go home, you Muslim," said Khalid, who added that she is "among thousands of Muslims who have been victimized because of hate and fear."

Canadian Heritage Minister Melanie Joly, a Liberal, said hate crimes against Canadian Muslims have more than doubled since 2012.

Imad Nehme, a 25-year-old graduate student of Lebanese origin, said that he understands how Muslims, who choose not to fully integrate into the Canadian society, can be misunderstood -- particularly in mainly secular Quebec, where they may be wrongly perceived as having extremist views.

"But people should make a difference between Islam and terrorism," he told Xinhua. Endi