Press Release:  Canadian Islamic Congress

Human Rights Complaints Launched Against Maclean's Magazine

Maclean's Editor Prefers Bankruptcy Over Balance

December 4, 2007

TORONTO /CNW/ - The Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC) announced today that it has launched several human rights complaints against Maclean's Magazine. Separate complaints have been filed in response to the Maclean's article The Future Belongs to Islam written by Mark Steyn and published on October 23, 2006.

The complainants argue that the article subjects Canadian Muslims to hatred and Islamophobia by representing that Muslims are part of a global conspiracy to take over Western societies and that Muslims in the West need to be viewed as the enemy.

"This article completely misrepresents Canadian Muslims' values, their community, and their religion," said Faisal Joseph, a former crown attorney, who represents the complainants. "We feel that it is imperative to challenge Maclean's biased portrayal of Muslims in order to protect Canadian multiculturalism and tolerance."

In response to the article, several law students met with editors Kenneth Whyte and Mark Stevenson and proposed that Maclean's publish a response. In response, Mr. Whyte indicated that Maclean's would rather go bankrupt than allow a response to the article.

Khurrum Awan, one of the complainants and a recent graduate of Osgoode Hall, stated: "We made the mistake of believing that, as citizens of a democratic society that values debate, we would have an opportunity to respond to this article". Muneeza Sheikh, also an Osgoode graduate, agreed: "we found Macleans response totally contrary to open debate". Naseem Mithoowani, a law student, stated: "Having exhausted every avenue, we chose to pursue our rights as Canadian citizens to bring this matter to the attention of the Canadian public."

The Canadian Islamic Congress recently found that Maclean's has a disturbing trend of publishing content that is Islamophobic. In its report Maclean's Magazine: A Case Study of Media-Propagated Islamophobia, the CIC identifies at least 18 prominent articles with similar inflammatory content between January 1, 2005 and July 31, 2007.

The complaints have been accepted by the British Columbia and Federal Commissions. Hearings have been scheduled in British Columbia for June 2 to 6, 2008. The complaints filed with the Ontario Human Rights Commission are still in the preliminary stages of the Commission's process.

The full report can be accessed at  http://www.canadianislamiccongress.com/ar/Report_on_Macleans_Journalism.pdf