Canadian cities take stance against Islamophobia

Two southwestern Ontario communities joined a Canadian alliance Monday that aims tostamp out Islamophobia.

Windsor and London signed an agreement, along with four other cities from across the country, vowing to eliminate anti-Muslim hate crimes.

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Windsor West MP Brian Masse attended the signing in Windsor.

"Words are not enough," he told the crowd gathered at Dieppe Gardens on the city's waterfront. "We need to make Canada free and just."

Other cities signing the charter on Monday include Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal. Leaders from the six cities held simultaneous news conferences.

Canadian stance

The move is prompted by the National Council of Canadian Muslims, a civil liberties and advocacy organization that says "hate incidents and stereotyping of Canadian Muslims is growing in frequency and intensity."

Windsor policeSupt. John St. Louis spoke at Monday's event as well, saying officers never take hate crimes lightly.

"We will investigate all cases of Islamophobia that are reported," he said.

Several London officials spoke during that city's event, includingCoun. MohamedSalih. Headdressed thecrowd about hate crimes inhis community.

"Islamophobiais real and it hurts," he said.