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editorial

It's both reassuring and disturbing to see politicians and public figures in Quebec admitting, in the wake of the killings at a Quebec City mosque, that carelessly conflating the threat of radical Islamic terrorism with Islam itself is unfair and harmful.

Reassuring, because this self-reflection, if it lasts, could be a modest silver lining in a horrible tragedy that took the lives of six innocent Muslim men.

Disturbing, because how could these otherwise intelligent people not have known that their intellectual dishonesty was toxic?

No one is saying that shock-jock radio hosts, tabloid columnists and divisive politicians are to blame for the actions of this mass killer. But it would be equally wrong to ignore the mea culpas emanating from Quebec this week.

One regretful French-language morning radio show host admitted that, while he banged on endlessly about radical Islam, he never once asked Quebec City's actual Muslims for their thoughts.

Jean-François Lisée, the leader of the Parti Québécois, admitted "it wasn't a good idea" to suggest that burkas – the full-body covering worn by a small number of Muslim women – could be used to conceal weapons.

Those who make their name by demonizing an entire religion or community, based on the actions of an extremist fringe, should reconsider their approach. They should, but let's not count on it. It is up to our politicians to defend the rights of Canadian Muslims and other minorities – but too many have failed at it. From the PQ's odious Charter of Quebec Values and the Harper government's repugnant "barbaric cultural practices hotline," to Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch's fetid dog-whistling about vetting immigrants for their values, there has been a resistant strain of intolerance in our politics.

Do these opportunists not see it? The first person accused of the mass murder of Muslims in North America is a white man who grew up in Canada's mainstream Christian society. The act he is alleged to have committed in no way implicates all of his community, just as Canadian Muslims in no way should have ever been associated – by inference, by the way they dress or pray, by where they come from – with the actions of radicalized Islamic extremists. It's as clear as day now.

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