Source: Huffington Post

OTTAWA — A Liberal MP received violent and racist messages on social media this week after he highlighted the refusal of some Conservative MPs to denounce all forms of Islamophobia in the Commons.

Ontario MP Omar Alghabra, the parliamentary secretary for consular affairs, told The Huffington Post Canada he was taken aback by some of the hundreds of responses on Twitter and Facebook after he published this tweet: “It’s sad that Conservatives denied to give a unanimous consent to a motion in the House of Commons to condemn all forms of Islamophobia.”

“It’s not unusual that I get the occasional troll online, but I was surprised by the magnitude and the number,” he told HuffPost on Friday.

“I don’t believe this is representative of the majority of Canadians, but it highlights the importance of the need for public discourse and motions like the one the Conservatives unfortunately rejected,” he added.

He said talking about this type of “disgusting behaviour” allows an opportunity to “speak collectively against it.”

Draws like to so-called ‘values’ debate

The Liberal MP said he believes Conservative party leadership candidate Kellie Leitch’s call for screening newcomers for so-called “Canadian values” has also heightened tensions.

“It gives licence to people who have these feelings to speak out publicly without shame,” he said.

Some of Leitch’s own caucus members have spoken out against her position. Fellow Conservative leadership candidates Michael Chong and Deepak Obhrai have accused her of engaging in “dog-whistle politics” and of “fear-mongering.”

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