Fewer than a tenth of complaints to the Canadian Human Rights Commission alleging anti-Muslim discrimination are ever referred to a full hearing, records show. The Commission said it had “limited” resources in its $42.2 million annual budget, according to Blacklock's Reporter..“As limited as our resources are the Commission understands that providing people with services represents the crux of the human rights system and is fundamental to ensuring access to human rights justice for all, not just for those who have the means,” Charlotte-Anne Malischewski, CEO of the Commission, wrote in a submission to the Senate human rights committee..Malischewski said the Commission wanted to “shine a light on the alarming incidence of Islamophobia.” She did not elaborate..Figures requested by senators showed that just a small fraction of complaints of anti-Muslim discrimination are ever referred to a Tribunal for a full hearing. Complaints that were sent to a full hearing typically took almost two years, or 22 months, to resolve..Data showed in the five-year period from 2017 to 2022, the Commission received a total 32,999 complaints. Of those, 323 fell within the jurisdiction of the Canadian Human Rights Act and “pertained to discrimination or harassment in employment and cited the words ‘Islam’ or ‘Muslim,’” wrote CEO Malischewski..Of the 323 anti-Muslim complaints a total 152 were dismissed as outside Commission jurisdiction, 92 were resolved through mediation, and 26 were referred to the Tribunal for a hearing, the equivalent of 8%. The remainder were not accounted for..“Such cases included one in which an individual who identified as Muslim or practicing Islam was subject to racist comments by their supervisor and other employees including comparing the individual to a terrorist,” wrote the Commission CEO. “In another case an individual who identified as Muslim or as practicing Islam alleged coworkers mocked and insulted them when they became aware of their religious practices.”.The Senate human rights committee since last June 13 has conducted hearings on “Islamophobia in Canada.” Canadian Muslims will number nearly three million by 2036, according to Statistics Canada estimates..StatsCan in a 2017 report Immigration And Diversity: Population Projections For Canada And Its Regions 2011 to 2036 forecast that within a generation the nation’s largest religious groups would total 12.9 million Catholics, 5.4 million Protestants, 2.8 million Muslims, 1.2 million Hindus and 1.1 million Sikhs..Canada previously had so few Muslim immigrants the Dominion Bureau of Statistics, the forerunner to StatsCan, deleted “Muslim” from its 1944 Census questionnaires.
