Council head to teach Muslims about rights, responsibilities

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/10/2010 (5526 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FOR a religious community under fire again, the timing couldn’t be better.

The head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Canada is coming to Winnipeg to teach Muslims about their rights, responsibilities and how to be more media savvy in responding to a crisis. “We will be talking about what are people’s rights — if they’re approached by CSIS and RCMP, what are their rights and what they should expect,” said CAIR-Canada executive director Ihsaan Gardee. The head of the Ottawa-based, non-profit advocacy group will be speaking at the Central Mosque on Ellice Avenue Tuesday night. “It’s their job to do criminal investigations and intelligence operations,” said Gardee. “There is a need for Canadian Muslims to do their part in the shared responsibility as citizens to keep Canada safe. And, at the same time, there has to be balance. Security agencies must still operate within the balance of the law.” In an interview before news of the CSIS/FBI investigation into three missing University of Manitoba students was made public, Gardee said his trip to Winnipeg had been in the works for months. It wasn’t planned in response to the media uproar over the earlier arrest of terror suspects in Ottawa, including a man who used to live in Winnipeg.

“The idea of this trip was discussed and planned far in advance of the highly publicized arrests in Ottawa, although the decision to go ahead with it now seemed timely.”

Gardee could not be reached for comment Friday on the latest headlines surrounding the city’s Islamic community. Reporters waiting outside the Hazelwood mosque in south Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba to speak to people after prayers were met mainly with mistrust and suspicion.

Gardee said they’re not encouraging the Manitoba Muslim community to circle the wagons and become insular. Its mission statement said misrepresentations of Islam are most often the result of a lack of knowledge on the part of non-Muslims and reluctance on the part of Muslims to articulate their cause. “We encourage all Canadians — Muslims and non-Muslims — to take an active role and speak out on issues that they are concerned about and that affect them and their fellow citizens,” Gardee said. “…The rights of citizenship also come with responsibilities and amongst these includes participating in debate and discussion around the issues of the day.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca