> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.iqra.ca/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # OPEN LETTER TO MINISTER RE: Alleged Islamophobia and anti-black racism at York Region District School Board - URL: https://www.iqra.ca/2016/open-letter-to-minister-re-alleged-islamophobia-and-anti-black-racism-at-york-region-district-school-board/ - Published: 2016-10-31T16:08:36.000Z - Updated: 2016-10-31T16:08:36.000Z - Author: iqradotca - Tags: Canadian Muslims, iqra, IQRA.ca, Islam Canada, Mitzie Hunter, Muslim Canada, Muslims in Canada, Reflections, Uncategorized, York Region District School Board October 31, 2016 **SENT VIA EMAIL** Honourable Mitzie Hunter Minister of Education Ministry of Education 22nd Floor, Mowat Block 900 Bay Street Toronto, Ontario M7A 1L2 Email: mhunter.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org; — and — Honourable Indira Naidoo-Harris Associate Minister of Education Ministry of Education 22nd Floor, Mowat Block 900 Bay Street Toronto, Ontario M7A 1L2 Email: inaidoo-harris.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org Dear Honourable Ministers: **Re: Allegations of Islamophobia and anti-black racism,** **York Region District School Board** We write with respect to the saga at the York Region District School Board (YRDSB) over alleged Islamophobic posts by principal Ghada Sadaka. We join the parents who are deeply concerned about the mental and physical wellbeing of their children. Two trustees, Allan Tam and Billy Pang, have also joined the growing chorus asking for transparency and questioning whether proper protocols were followed by the Board. As you are aware, the lack of transparency and accountability with regards to their investigation and any actions they may have undertaken to address the unprofessional and hateful statements was even profiled by various media outlets. This is deeply troubling. This is especially disturbing when contextualized within the growing incidents of Islamophobia within society – something that the Anti-Racism Directorate has committed to addressing. As community leaders, we are even more perturbed to see this as part of what may be a larger problem. We are deeply saddened to note that there appears to be a systemic issue at play in York Region as black families have also been alleging issues of anti-black racism within the school system. They too have been feeling ignored and dismissed. In fact, in that context while Minister Sandals said that the allegations were “disturbing” (Toronto Star Feb 23), nothing appears to have been done to address it. Apart from these allegations, it appears that a culture of fear continues to grow within the YRDSB. If these allegations are not investigated thoroughly and dealt with in a transparent and judicious manner, the resulting loss of trust will only lead to loss of complete confidence in the system. We hope you agree that all children, staff and teachers are entitled to a safe, inclusive & accepting school environment free from fear and hate. We wish to bring to your attention the provincial code of conduct pertaining to safe schools. Specifically the code provides the following: #### **Safety** **School community members must not:** **– engage in hate propaganda or other types of behaviour caused by hate or bias** We are now asking you to please intervene and to work with the concerned communities to re-establish public confidence in the YRDSB. Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you. You can contact Sadaf Siddiqui, Naeem Siddiqui and Amira ElGhawaby from the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) who are copied on this email. **S** **IGNATORIES** **:** **Community Organizations & Leaders:** 1) **Hamid Akbar**, Tax Auditor & Board Member at Association of Progressive Muslims of Canada (APMC) 2) **Hamna Anwar**, Law Student, Co-Chair of Muslim Law Students Association at University of Ottawa 3) **Sadat Anwar**, Muslim Debate Initiative (Canada) 4) **Shaykh Yusuf Badat**, Imam, Islamic Foundation of Toronto 5) **Mohamed Bhabha**, Chair, Muslim Seniors Circle of Halton/Peel 6) **Dr. Katherine Bullock**, PhD, Community Leader 7) **Ahmad Gaied**, Executive Vice-President, Ontario Federation of Labour 8) **Ihsaan Gardee**, Executive Director, National Council of Canadian Muslims 9) **Taha Ghayyur**, Writer & Leadership Trainer, Community Leader 10) **Hussein Hamdani**, Vice Chair and Legal Counsel, North American Spiritual Revival 11) **Nabeel Hasan**, Founder of Muslim Scholarship Fund, Consultant / Community Worker and Social Activist 12) **Mohammed Hashim**, Senior Organizer, Toronto and York Region Labour Council 13) **Jamal Hassan**, Director, Government and Corporate Relation, Voice of Islam 14) **Dr. Tabasum Hussain**, Street Da’wah Toronto Group 15) **Abdul Huq Ingar**, Community Leader/Activist 16) **Yusuf Ingar**, Community Leader/Activist 17) **Anela Jadunandan**, Community Activist 18) **Samira Kanji**, President, Noor Cultural Centre 19) **Khalid S . Khan**, IT Consultant and Community Leader 20) **Nader Khan**, Singer-Songwriter, Arts Educator, Social Activist 21) **Saleha Khan**, Family Honour Project, London 22) **Sheema Khan**, PhD, Patent Agent, Writer, Monthly columnist for the Globe and Mail 23) **Rabia Khedr**, Executive Director, Muslim Council of Peel, and Executive Director, CAM-D, Canadian Association of Muslims with Disabilities 24) **Shaikh Ahmad Kutty**, Resident Scholar/Senior Lecturer, Islamic Institute of Toronto 25) **Dr. Laura Mae Lindo**, Director, Diversity and Equity, Wilfrid Laurier University 26) **Farrah Marfatia**, Vice-Principal, High School, Private School 27) **Fizza Mir**, Educator, Peel, Community Leader 28) **Abdussalam Nakua**, Community Organizer and Activitist 29) **Muneeb Nasir**, President, Olive Tree Foundation 30) **Sandra Noe**, President, Board of Directors, Federation of Muslim Women 31) **Towhid Noman**, OCT, PSP, President, Ontario Bangladeshi Educators Community Support Services 32) **Towhid Noman**, OCT, PSP, President, Ontario Bangladeshi Educators Community Support Services 33) **Uzma Panchbhaya**, Vice Principal, Elementary School (Private) 34) **Zuned Panchbhaya**, Imam & Teacher, Private School 35) **Yaseen Poonah**, President, Naseeha Muslim Youth Helpline 36) **Dr. Saqib Qureshi**, Entrepreneur, author, and Community Leader 37) **Vaqar Raees**, Nuclear Safety Officer and community activist, President, Friends Indeed Canada 38) **Shazlin Rahman**, Stakeholder Engagement Specialist, Inspirit Foundation 39) **Naeem Siddiqi**, Communications Director, Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association (CMCLA) 40) **Farina Siddiqui**, Political Action Network for Muslim Canadians (PANMC) 41) **Yousuf Syed**,Vice-President, Islamic Supreme Council Of Canada Toronto Chapter 42) **The Canadian Council of Muslim Women – National** E**ducators:** 43) **Samiya Abdi**, Health Promotion Consultant 44) **Binish Ahmed** – Educator, Researcher, PhD Candidate, Ryerson University 45) **Rimshah Ahmed**, Coordinator / Writer/ Artist 46) **Mayar El-Khatib**, Civil Engineer, Statistician, Published Author 47) **Omar El-Ziftawi**, BSc, MEd., Educator 48) **Mohammad Fadel**, Associate Professor of Law, University of Toronto Faculty of Law 49) **Humera Hashmi**, E.A., YRDSB 50) **Dr. Uzma Jamil**, Researcher 51) **Dr. Rima Berns-McGown**, Lecturer, Department of Historical Studies, University of Toronto at Mississauga 52) **Shazia Javed**, Filmmaker and Educator 53) **Dr. Baseer U. Khan**, MD, FRCS(C), P.CEO., Assistant Professor, University of Toronto 54) **Ausma Zehanat Khan**, Author 55) **Faisal Kutty**, Associate Professor, Vaparaiso University Law School, Adjunct Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School and Counsel, KSM Law 56) **Drupati Maharaj**, M.Ed., Diversity Consultant 57) **Yasmin Merchant**, Teacher 58) **Muhammad Munshi**, MD, Lecturer, Diagnostic Imaging, University of Toronto 59) **Rabea Murtaza**, Community Work College Teacher 60) **Omair Quadri**, Digital Editor, The Globe and Mail 61) **Aurangzeb Qureshi**, Policy Analyst/Writer 62) **Waheeda Rahman**, MA – Director Organizational Development/Diversity Expert/Leadership Coach 63) **Dr. Sumairah Syed**, MD, Lecturer, University of Toronto 64) **Dr. Muhammad N. Yousaf**, Professor of Chemistry, York University 65) **Zainab Zafar**, TDSB science teacher 66) **Omar Zia**, Teacher, PDSB 67) **Dr. Jasmin Zine**, Professor, Department of Sociology, Wilfrid Laurier University **Concerned Community Members:** 68) **Taskeen Abdul-Rawoof**, Law Student at Osgoode Hall Law School, Former Teacher 69) **Nabeel Ahmed**, Nonprofit Professional and Urban Planning Student 70) **Ghufran Ahmed**, Entrepreneur 71) **Zoya Alam**, Lawyer 72) **Qasim Ali**, Associate / Lawyer, Clarity Law Group 73) **Syyeda Alikhan**, Retired 74) **Nasreen AliKhan**, Retired Civil Servant, Province of Ontario 75) **Sanaa Ali-Mohammed**, Community Member 76) **Sadia Anjum**, Former Employment Counsellor 77) **Daanish Ansari**, Accountant 78) **Mohammad Asif**, Community Member 79) **Abuzar Atieque**, Computer Engineer 80) **Noor Baig**, MA Candidate, Wilfrid Laurier University 81) **Ifthikhar Barrie**, IT consultant 82) **Djamel Boukhira**, Software Quality Test Engineer Lead. 83) **Anne Brittain**, Community Member 84) **Jawad Chaudhry**, Concerned Parent 85) **Asad Chishti**, Inventor at Chairs and Tables 86) **Nabeel Dar**, IT Manager 87) **Hagar Elsayed**, Law Student 88) **Heather Fathi**, Negotiator with Ontario Public Service Employees Union 89) **Omar Hamid**, Managing Director, B.D Diagnostic Inc. 90) **Sadiq Hasan**, CEO, Infoanaysis Systems Inc. 91) **Syed Hussaini**, Concerned Parent at the School (SWL) 92) **Babna Islam**, Parent 93) **Faizan Jabbar**, P.Eng, Senior Electrical Engineer 94) **Nasir Jabbar**, Technologist 95) **Tauqeer Javaid**, Engineer, Independent Entrepreneur, Platine Inc. 96) **Mustafa Jilani**, Lawyer 97) **Muhammad Talha Johri**, High School Student, York Region 98) **Sofia Johri**, Parent and Project Manager at eHealth Ontario 99) **Waseem Johri**, Engineer, Durham Region 100) **Zainab Johri**, High School Student, Durham Region 101) **Khalidah Juman-Yassin**, Concerned Community Member 102) **Eiad Kassif**, IT consultant 103) **Sana Khawaja**,Student 104) **Seima Khan**, Senior OD Consultant 105) **Zahid Khan**, Program Manager TD Bank 106) **Maliha Khan**, Grade 10 IB Student, Peel Board 107) **Monia Khan**, Grade 7 IBT Student, Peel Board 108) **Hina Latif**, Lawyer 109) **Farheen Khan**, Student 110) **Nada Mabsout**, Concerned Community Member 111) **Tara Maharaj**, Concerned Community Member 112) **Mustafa Malik**, CPA, CMA, Finance Manager 113) **Farook Mansoor**, IT Manager 114) **Afsana Mansoor**, Supply Chain Manager 115) **Naseem Mithoowani**, Lawyer 116) **Farzana Mohsin**, Proud Mother, Grandmother and passionate about fairness & equality for all 117) **Mohamed Moinuddin**, Marketing Executive 118) **Ali Moinuddin**, University Student 119) **Saleem Moinuddin**, Retired 120) **Fatemah Moinuddin**, High School Student 121) **Rahim Morad**, Travel Counselor 122) **Anthony Morgan**, Lawyer 123) **Fatima Muhtaj**, Community Member 124) **Samer Nakib**, Law Student 125) **Iram Naqvi**, City Social Services Worker 126) **Mohammed Quraishi**, Optician 127) **Tanweer Qureshi**, Grandmother and Retired Teacher 128) **Saadia Qureshi**, Graphic Designer 129) **Ebad Rahman**, lawyer 130) **Aisha Raja**, Community Member and Markham Resident 131) **Omair Raza**, Tech entrepreneur 132) **Jawdat Saleh**, Concerned Community Member 133) **Nafees Sayeed**, Retired Civil Servant, Province of Ontario 134) **Zaid Sayeed**, Lawyer, Argent Law 135) **Paul Scotland**, Lawyer 136) **Summera Shaikh**, Mortgage Agent – Get A Better Mortgage/ The Mortgage Centre 137) **Sadaf Siddiqui**, Lawyer 138) **Saif Syed**, P.Eng, Software Engineer 139) **Nicole Tavares**, Concerned Community Member 140) **Usman Umar**, Government Compliance Officer 141) **Anjali Willoughby**, Social Worker 142) **Khadija Zeeshan**, Law Student, University of Alberta Faculty of Law.