Young Muslim voters matter more than ever

Interesting contrast between the first generation and the second generation in terms of political engagement.

Canadian Muslims form between 15 and 20 percent in six ridings (Toronto’s Mississauga-Erin Mills, Mississauga Centre and Don Valley East; Montreal’s Saint-Laurent and Saint-Léonard-Saint-Michel; and, Ottawa South):

Yet for many Canadian Muslim youth, this country is the only home they have ever known.

Unlike many of their parents, who migrated to the country in the ’70s and ’80s, more than one in four Muslims in Canada were born here, according to a report published earlier this year by Ottawa-based researcher Daood Hamdani for The Canadian Dawn Foundation.

“Both my feet are planted here. There is no ‘back home’ for me,” says 37-year-old Mohammed Hashim of Mississauga, Ont.

‘I want Canada to go back to what it was.’— Sanaa Ali-Mohammed, 26

That’s a sentiment that the older generation doesn’t always share, Ali-Mohammed says. “For my parents, I think it’s more of a transactional relationship. They’ll be good citizens but there’s always this undertone of ‘we don’t really belong here.'”

Islamic Institute of Toronto president Fareed Amin is a first-generation immigrant to Canada and has seen this sentiment among his age group first-hand. “Many of them come from countries where whether you participate or not doesn’t make a difference, so sometimes there’s that skepticism to participate in the political process .”

Some new Canadians also carry with them the view that political involvement is potentially dangerous because of the tenuous political climates they left behind.

“I don’t think our young people have the same baggage that some of the first-generation immigrants have,” Amin says. “They’re born-and-bred Canadians.”

Back in Brampton, Ali says part of being Canadian is the freedom to be whoever you are. “My parents chose to come here because you can’t always be that in Pakistan.”

His hope for the election? “I want Canada to go back to what it was; the country my parents came to.”