Canadian man offers $1K reward for recordings of Muslim students praying

PM Trudeau denounced move, stood behind right to religious accommodation

A controversial video posted online made waves in Canada as it called for people to send in videos of Muslim students, offering $1,000 reward to whomever did so.

The three and a half minute long video was posted to YouTube on March 29 by Kevin J Johnston of the online publication Freedom Report.



Freedom Report calls itself "Canada's best and most honest news outlet". Previously, Johnston also attempted to stop the development of the Meadowvale Islamic Centre.

In the video, Johnston says people should make videos of Muslims students praying. He also says that the video 'must' contain hate speech (which will be found through a team of translators) and the student must be identified by name and face. Moreover, the video must be submitted within 24 hours of being recorded. If it meets this criteria, the person who submits the video will receive a reward of $1,000.

Speaking to CBC News, Johnston says his motivation for asking people to send in these submission stems from his belief that public schools are "supposed to be secular — we want our schools to focus on education only."



The district's school board has labeled Johnston's actions simply as “hate-filled showmanship” and an attack on the school community. They also issued a memo to school administrators saying that this invasion of privacy is not appropriate.

"It is important that you make staff who supervise Friday prayer at your school aware of this challenge and ask them to be extra vigilant in their supervision, and that this invasion of privacy is not appropriate," states the memo, sent to CBC Toronto by the board's director of communications, Brian Woodland.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also called for the need to “work to ensure that everyone understands [and respects] their neighbours” after this video made rounds.

“Canadians have understood that our differences are a source of strength, not a source of weakness,” Trudeau said at a press conference on Friday.



Muslim students in Ontario have observed congregational prayers for almost 20 years now - a right protected under the Ontario Human Rights Code.

After denouncing the video, Trudeau stood behind the right to religious accommodation.

“We of course need to continue to work to ensure that everyone understands that respecting their neighbours, that moving beyond mere tolerance, towards acceptance and friendship is the path that Canada needs to continue on,” he said.

 


This story originally appeared on CP24