Canada's Conservatives join with far-right in opposing anti-Islamophobia motion

Canada’s House of Commons adopted late last month a Liberal government-backed motion condemning “Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination.”

The motion, M-103, is a pro-forma, non-binding statement of opposition to discrimination and violent attacks targeting Muslims, under conditions where there has been a surge of such attacks, including the Jan. 29 assault on a Quebec City mosque that killed six Muslims.

The Liberals’ decision to champion the motion was a cynical maneuver, aimed at covering up their agenda of militarism, austerity, and hostility to refugees, and, most immediately, their burgeoning alliance with the Trump administration.

The virulent, right-wing campaign against the motion—it passed by a vote of 201 to 91—must, however, serve as a warning. As in the US and Europe, important sections of the ruling class and political establishment are whipping up chauvinism and xenophobia, and allying with extreme-right, fascistic elements, so as to push politics still further right and split the working class.

Read more: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/04/07/cana-a07.html