OTTAWA -- The federal government has announced it will make Jan. 29 a day to honour victims of the deadly 2017 attack on a Quebec City mosque.
It will formally be known as The National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec Mosque Attack and of Action Against Islamophobia.
Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault made the announcement Thursday, the day before the fourth anniversary of the attack and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau repeated the statement on Friday.
Six people were killed and 19 seriously injured when a gunman burst into the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City.
Guilbeault said Canadians have an obligation to not just remember the victims but also a responsibility to combat discrimination and stand up against hateful acts and online radicalization.
Boufeldja Benabdallah, co-founder of the mosque where six men where killed in 2017, said the federal government's decision to name Jan. 29 -- the day of the 2017 attack -- as a national day of remembrance will help people heal.
But Benabdallah said today that Ottawa hasn't done enough to get handguns off the market.
The National Council of Canadian Muslims, one of many groups urging the government to designate the day, said it will stand as a reminder of the lives lost and the work ahead to dismantle hate and racism.
In 2018, the notion of having a day against Islamophobia was floated at the National Assembly in Quebec, but the CAQ, Liberals and Parti Quebecois nixed the idea, calling it too controversial.
The idea was brought up again a year later and shut down by Quebec Premier Francois Legault, saying “I don't think there's any Islamphobia in Quebec… so I don't see why there would be a devoted to Islamophobia.” instead describing the attack as an act of "racism."
Sebastien Bouchard, one of the organizers of the commemorations, said today that Islamophobia needs to be recognized and named.
In December, Quebec City and the mosque unveiled a memorial near the Islamic Cultural Centre.
At its centre is a tree meant to show growth from the pain, and pillars where prayers and the names of the victims are inscribed.
For years the Muslim community in Quebec City and across the country have been calling for tangible action, not just symbolic gestures of remembrance.
On Friday morning, the NDP said it's planning on bringing forward legislation to reform how online hate is addressed by police, specifically to increase the recognition of white supremacist groups as hate groups.
- This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 28, 2021. With files from CTV News Montreal's Kelly Greig.
