LONDON, Ont. — Relatives, community members and dignitaries called for an end to racism and Islamophobia on Sunday during an emotional tribute marking the one-year anniversary of a deadly attack on a Muslim family in London, Ont.
Leaders from the Muslim community and friends of the victims called on all levels of government for action to address Islamophobia.
Pleas for compassion and tolerance mixed with expressions of grief and mourning for the four people killed in what prosecutors have described as a hate-motivated act of terrorism.
Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, their 15-year-old daughter Yumnah and her 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal, died after police say they were deliberately hit by a truck during an evening walk in London on June 6, 2021. The family’s nine-year-old son was hurt, but survived.
Esa Islam, a cousin of the Afzaal family, said the attack has left a gaping wound in his heart.
“Last year, I would never be able to understand how all it took was one act of hatred to change my entire life,” he said.
Islam made his remarks before hundreds of mourners who gathered at the football field of the high school his cousin Yumnah attended before her death.
“I miss being able to go over to their house and have fun conversations about Harry Potter with Yumnah,” Islam said.
“I miss the simple things, the things we always take for granted until they’re gone.”
Maryam AlSabawi, a close friend of Yumnah, said she misses having lunch and going to the mall with her.
“I miss talking about our plans for the future,” she said. “I just miss your presence, the sound of your laughter, the stories you would tell me and the 3 a.m. texts about the most random things.”
AlSabawi said she has been struggling with sleepless nights, fear of trucks and an inability to go for walks.
“We didn’t just lose you and your beautiful family, but we lost our sense of belonging, our sense of community, our sense of safety, our sense of self,” the 16-year-old girl said.
“We even lost our innocence. The world isn’t as kind as we had believed it to be.”
She said she and a group of friends have started a group called the Youth Coalition Combating Islamophobia.
“The world placed the responsibility on our shoulders that would have crushed a mountain, but we will carry it because others haven’t,” she said.
The coalition organized the event and a march that took place in London on Sunday, where hundreds walked to the school of the London Islamic Centre.
“It’s been a very difficult year for the Muslim community here in London,” said Asad Choudhary, a former principal at the London Islamic Centre and youth mentor.
On top of organizing events to raise awareness about Islamophobia, the youth coalition has developed a lesson plan on the issue of Islamophobia, with the help of educators, for teachers to use in their classes in London, Ont.
“Essentially, it talks about what Islamophobia is, what happened on June 6, 2021, here in our city, and how do we support the combating of Islamophobia,” he said.
“What the youth came up with is that people need to understand what a stereotype is, when people look at Muslims and that stereotype that … comes forth, and that creates implicit biases, which creates hate.”
Islam said politicians should follow their supportive words with action to prevent similar attacks in the future.
“I’m tired of not seeing action by the politicians that we elect to lead us, hearing them make unfulfilled promises and speak hollow words of sorrow,” he said.
He singled out Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government for not committing to pass a law to fight Islamophobia and other forms of hate.
A bill tabled by the Ontario NDP earlier this year — called the Our London Family Act — would have established a provincial review of hate crimes and hate motivated incidents in Ontario.
The bill would also have designated safe zones around houses of worship, prevented white supremacist groups from registering as societies and established an anti-racism council that would provide input on government policies.
However, it was defeated shortly after being introduced.
“Despite all of the promises we heard last year, one year later, it feels there’s still an unwillingness by our elected leaders to take concrete action against … Islamophobia,” Islam said.
While Ford didn’t attend the Sunday event, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra were among the attendees.
Trudeau said people should not ignore the reality that millions of Canadians are facing microaggression, discrimination and systemic racism every day.
He said the government has taken action to address hate and racism in Canada and added that there is more work to be done.
“On this day that we grieve, we also come together in commitment and resolve to make sure that tomorrow and next year, and all the days in the future, are also better,” said Trudeau.
“The lives of three generations of the Afzaal family were taken by a brutal, cowardly and brazen act of terrorist violence.”
He said his government has launched a new anti-racism strategy and a national action plan to combat hate and has allocated millions of dollars in funding to grassroots organizations, many led by Muslims, to combat hate.
“We’re also launching a process to appoint Canada’s very first special representative on combating Islamophobia,” he said.
There are several other events planned to commemorate the first anniversary of the June 6 tragedy, including a vigil on Monday.
A 21-year-old man faces four counts of first-degree murder in the attack. The case has not yet gone to trial.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2022.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
