Yesterday, the mayor of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Mr. Dimitrios (Jim) Beis, proclaimed January 29, 2018, as a Day of Remembrance and Action on Islamophobia in his borough following the unfortunate events that took place a year ago in a mosque in Quebec City.
“This act of violence and terrorism, in which human beings were killed and others seriously wo
unded for maintaining religious convictions that were different from the majority, shook Quebec as a whole and particularly the Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough, where many citizens of different Muslim communities live. On January 29th, we will remember the memory of the deceased and the victims who have to live with the aftermath of this senseless aggression,” said Mayor Dimitrios (Jim) Beis.
Community activist, blogger and journalist Fariha Naqvi-Mohamed expressed gratitude at the Mayor’s initiative in a live Facebook broadcast.
“I grew up in Pierrefonds and continue to spend many hours in Pierrefonds each week,” Naqvi-Mohamed explained. “I cannot begin to find the words to express how grateful I am to a leader that acknowledges this day. I was hopeful when Markham Ontario put out their release earlier this week but could only dream Montreal would follow. People are victims of acts of Islamophobia every single day, and this is a significant step to raising awareness to this struggle.”
The official proclamation of this day will be adopted by the borough council on February 12 and will be repeated every year around the anniversary date of this sad event. The mayor thus wishes to recall the notion of “living together” in his community and aims to sensitize his citizens to respect the differences.
