After what can be described as the clinical death of the Our London Family Act, the Ontario NDP told OMNI News in an exclusive interview that the party is reintroducing the bill in the fall.
OMNI News obtained a statement from Minister Michael Ford’s office, responsible for citizenship and multiculturalism in Ontario, confirming the bill is no longer before the House.
“We’ve been waiting to see the government bring forward legislation that would address those priorities that had been identified by the Muslim community that were included in the Our London Family Act,” NDP MPP Peggy Sattler said.
Sattler added that “the government has done nothing, and so we are planning to reintroduce the bill in the fall.”
The Liberals say that the Doug Ford government washed its hands from the Our London Family Act. “It certainly seems as though Doug Ford’s government has washed its hands pursuing Our London Family Act any further against their own promises not just to deal with it, but to fast track it,” MPP Adil Shamji said to OMNI News.
In the statement, the Progressive Conservative government referred to its Anti-Racism Strategic Plan, which focuses on economic empowerment of marginalized communities, supporting children and youth, and population-specific anti-racism and anti-hate initiatives.
According to the Ontario Government’s website, “The report illustrates some of the ways the government is working with sector partners, community leaders and organizations to take concrete action to address systemic racism, eliminate barriers and advance racial equity.”
The bill from the New Democrats would establish a provincial review of hate crimes and hate-motivated incidents that happen in Ontario. It would also designate safe zones around houses of worship, prevent white supremacist groups from registering as societies, and establish an anti-racism council that would provide input on government policies.
The bill, which was created with the National Council of Canadian Muslims and follows similar recommendations put forward by that organization, would also present new tools for schools to combat racism. Additionally, it would empower the Speaker to ban protests at the legislature that promote hate.
“The argument that the Ford government is making that they introduced their own anti-racism strategic plan, I mean, it falls entirely flat. It would do nothing to prevent any of those incidents. Furthermore, it reads like a workforce engagement strategy, which would’ve not helped the Afzaal Family in London,” Shamji said in reaction to the government’s statement.
Sattler, the Afzaal family’s MPP, told OMNI News that she was in contact with Minister Ford after the last provincial election in this regard. “In conversations and texts that I’ve had with the minister, we keep hearing, oh yeah, you know, the government is going to deal with this, but we have not seen a package of measures come forward.”
A source tells OMNI News that the Ontario NDP is set to announce further steps next week. OMNI News will follow up on by asking members of the NDP caucus on what these plans are.
All of this comes days before the third anniversary of the murder of the Afzaal Muslim family in London, Ontario, and shortly after Nathaniel Veltman announced his intention to appeal all his guilty verdicts in the case and his life sentence for the attempted murder of the child, who was nine years old when he survived the attack on June 6, 2021.
With files from the Canadian Press