Sameer Zuberi, the Liberal candidate running for re-election in the riding of Pierrefonds—Dollard in Montreal’s West Island, says two of his campaign volunteers were targeted with Islamophobic slurs.
In an interview with CBC Tuesday, Zuberi said a mother and her 15 year-old daughter were hanging campaign posters in the riding Monday evening when a man drove up to them and rolled down the window of his car.
“He was honking and they thought that he was, you know, supportive,” Zuberi said.
“Instead, he shouted at them, said he’s going to tear down those posters and started shouting Islamophobic slurs with F-bombs,” Zuberi said.
Zuberi said the man then drove off. The mother and daughter were shaken by the incident. He said they filed a police complaint at his urging.
Montreal police were not able to immediately confirm if they were investigating.
Zuberi believes they were targeted because they were working for him. His father was born in Pakistan and he’s Muslim.
“They were not wearing any visible attire that would identify them as Muslim,” Zuberi said.
“I was very disturbed. You know, these are volunteers who are giving their time,” he said.
Not the first time candidate targeted
During the 2021 campaign several of Zuberi’s campaign posters were vandalized with racist slurs.
Zuberi said he hesitated about speaking out about this latest incident, but ultimately decided to post about it on social media.
“I don’t want to be the guy who’s only known for getting the racial attacks during a campaign,” he said.
“There’s so much more to offer other than just that, but this behaviour is deeply problematic and it’s not proper in our democracy,” he said.
The Canadian Muslim Forum also condemned the incident.
“There is a general sense — that is very sad and devastating — this sense of normalization of hate, Islamophobia and discrimination,” forum president Samer Majzoub told CBC in an interview.
“It is a bitter reality. But this is nothing new,” he said.
Zuberi added: “For people to have different opinions and to debate them robustly, even sometimes uncomfortably, that’s just fine. But there are limits to that, right?”
The Liberal candidate believes social media has played a role in enabling hateful speech.
There are dozens of hateful and racist replies to Zuberi’s post about the incident on social media platform X.
“I think just as citizens and as residents, we need to have a conversation about how we enter conversations,” Zuberi said.
“What is it that is appropriate? And what is it that that goes beyond the bounds?” he said.
Craig Sauvé, the NDP candidate in Lasalle—Émard—Verdun, posted a message of support on X.
“My full solidarity with you and your campaign team. Racist attacks are unacceptable and Islamophobia has no place in Canada,” Sauvé posted.
