June 22, 2020

The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau Prime Minister of Canada

CC:

The Honourable Bill Blair Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

The Honourable Bardish Chagger Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth

The Honourable Steven Guilbeault Minister of Canadian Heritage

Via email

Dear Prime Minister Trudeau,

The June 6 terrorist attack in London has shown us once again that Islamophobia in Canada leads to despicable violence. Likewise, the recent increase in antisemitic incidents around the country reminds us that we must constantly be on guard against hate.

I am proud that our federal government will convene an emergency summit on antisemitism, and an emergency summit on Islamophobia. We must urgently press ahead with both summits, to ensure we hear from communities and stakeholders about their best ideas to fight extremism and keep Canadians safe.

Budget 2021 also delivered on our 2019 platform commitment to invest more money into the Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence, to provide support and research for initiatives that counter radicalization to violence.

But there is one very important promise we still need to meet: tabling legislation to require social media companies to remove hateful and radical content from their platforms.

The perpetrator of the London terrorist attack was a young man. Other young men in Canada have perpetrated deadly acts of violence, including the Toronto van attack, for similar reasons: they were radicalized by hateful content spreading unchecked online.

Canadians understand that social media platforms have contributed to a startling rise in misinformation and radicalization. The spread of that content leads to violence in the real world, and we must prevent it.

Therefore, I ask that we consider tabling this legislation as soon as possible.

I would be willing to extend the current sitting of Parliament to debate and pass such legislation, and I hope my honourable colleagues in the opposition parties would agree as well.

My very best regards,

Julie Dzerowicz Member of Parliament Davenport