Canada’s the Muslim Voting Guide is back in the news. It’s a taxpayer-funded research project published last October 18 “by the Canadian Islamophobia Industry Research Project at Wilfrid Laurier University.” Describing it as disgraceful is an understatement. It is also “weird,” according to Canada’s deputy minister of industry, Simon Kennedy….
“The guide criticized opposition MPs for activities that ‘foment the kind of fear and moral panic that leads to violence and hate’, and was oddly successful in its application for $24,923 in funding.”
It is also noteworthy that the lead writer of the Muslim Voting Guide is Jasmine Zine. Jihad Watch has written plenty about her, too:
- Canada: Muslim professor who claims she was assaulted at conference has long record of “Islamophobia” propagandizing.
- Canada: “Islamophobia” prof claims she was assaulted at conference, media runs with claims without checking.
Jasmine Zine of Wilfrid Laurier University was removed from a seminar I spoke at for bad conduct: she was screaming and creating a disturbance. She then drove around the grounds for two hours after being thrown out of the conference, in front of students she brought with her. She accused conference organizers of being “Islamophobic.”
A B’nai Brith Canada press release in late October, “Canadian Muslim Voting Guide: Federal Election 2019,” exposed Islamic antisemitism and an insidious attempt to influence Muslims (especially young Muslims) in Canada’s recent elections. B’nai Brith said this about the Muslim Voting Guide:
B’nai Brith Canada is deeply concerned after learning that a federal grant was used to produce a guide instructing Canadian Muslims on how to vote in last Monday’s national election.
The “Canadian Muslim Voting Guide: Federal Election 2019” was released by the Canadian Islamophobia Industry Research Project at Wilfred Laurier University on Oct. 18, just three days before Canadians went to the polls. Its front cover acknowledges support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), a federal agency that assigns research grants.
Disturbingly, one of the six “key issues” for Canadian Muslims unilaterally selected by the authors of the Voting Guide is support for the anti-Israel and antisemitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement (pages 18-20). The Voting Guide purports to assign a “Fail” grade to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for recognizing that BDS is a form of antisemitism that harms Jewish students on Canadian campuses, and gives the same failing grade to Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer.
B’nai Brith also noted:
Research by B’nai Brith shows that the Voting Guide’s lead author, Jasmine Zine, received $24,923 from the SSHRC in 2018 for a project called “Mapping the Canadian Islamophobia Industry.”
Wilfred Laurier’s “Islamophobia” exposé is aligned with the Saudi-funded Bridge Initiative at Georgetown University. The “Islamophobia” “Fact-Sheets” issued by both Wilfrid Laurier and the Bridge Initiative are aimed at defaming anyone whom the researchers (Zine et al) deem to be “Islamophobic” (including me). Canadian taxpayers should not be paying to advance defamation and antisemitism. It is “weird” at best, as well as criminal under Canada’s existing hate laws.
News recently emerged that the Bridge Initiative wanted to relitigate trial of the Hamas-linked charity, the Holy Land Foundation (HLF). This is unsurprising given the fact that the HLF identified the Muslim Brotherhood networks in the U.S.; many also operate in Canada.
“Muslim voting guide grant was ‘weird’: deputy minister,” Toronto Sun, February 18, 2020:
The deputy minister of industry in an internal email described use of a taxpayer-funded research project to publish a 2019 Muslim voting guide as “weird,” in documents obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.
The guide criticized opposition MPs for activities that “foment the kind of fear and moral panic that leads to violence and hate.”
“In the event we did pay for this, I’m just wondering if in fact we have any policies at the councils about paying for this stuff that is overtly political in the sense of paying for stuff that, for example, purports to guide people in how they should vote?” wrote Deputy Minister Simon Kennedy.
“It would seem weird that such a guide would be something we would subsidize no matter what one may or may not think about the content.”
The voting guide was published Oct. 18 by the Canadian Islamophobia Industry Research Project at Wilfrid Laurier University. The department said it was unaware of the guide until notified by B’nai Brith Canada on Oct. 24.
However in their successful application for $24,923 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, researchers said they intended to “create profiles of key public, media and political figures as well as organizations who produce and distribute Islamophobic ideologies and propaganda,” according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
“The Islamophobia industry is comprised of media outlets, political figures, academics, think tanks, far-right groups and ideologues, and the donors who fund their campaign,” read the grant application.
“These individuals, groups and institutions comprise a network that supports and engages in activities that demonize and marginalize Islam and Muslims in Canada.”
The Muslim voting guide gave Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer and People’s Party leader Maxime Bernier “fail” marks on immigration, refugees and Islamophobia, while Liberal and New Democratic leaders were given passing grades.
Scheer’s well-documented association with controversial far-right and Islamophobic public figures makes him complicit,” said the guide. “Bernier indicates little concern for the plight of oppressed people.”
Protests prompted an urgent call from the minister’s office, according to Access To Information records.
“Yikes,” emailed one Humanities Research Council staffer. “Let’s treat this confidentially,” replied Brent Herbert-Copley, executive vice-president of the council….