Elections Ontario grants “Islamic Party of Ontario” first step towards registration

Canada has joined Belgium and Sweden in the list of Western countries with Islamic political parties.

The Islamic Party of Ontario has officially reserved its name with Elections Ontario as of October 2018.

The party claims that because the Constitution recognizes the "supremacy of God", that all laws in Canada must be in accordance with the Islamic faith.

While the party has reserved its name, it has not completed registration, an important step in becoming an actual party in Ontario.

In order to reserve a party name pending registration, it must follow Elections Ontario guidelines, which include prohibitions: on the word "independent", names that are deemed too similar to another party or entity, names that are abusive or offensive, and names being reserved by someone who already has another party name reserved.

This is a very low standard, and reserved party names will expire if they fail to become a registered party. While Elections Ontario may decline a party name at their discretion, they could be taken to court for inappropriately refusing an application.

Political parties in Ontario must be fully registered with Elections Ontario. There is no fee to register a political party. Successful registration is required in order to receive donations and issue tax receipts, run candidates in elections, and be eligible to be reimbursed for campaign expenses.

Constitution based on Islamic teachings

According to the party’s website, their constitution and principles are based solely on Islamic teachings and puzzlingly claims Islam to be the native religion of Canada.

While the Islamic community has long had an influence in the Ontario political scene, the formation of their own political party marks a distinct moment for Islamic political history in Ontario.

Islamic Party of Ontario endorses controversial internal PC resolution seeking to remove gender identity theory

On their blog, one of the party’s posts endorsed an internal PC Party Policy resolution. The controversial resolution, R4, which seeks to “remove the teaching and promotion of ‘gender identity theory’ from Ontario schools and its curriculum.”

In another post, the party reiterates its position on gender identity and transgenderism, opposing allowing transgender to use the washrooms they identify with and arguing against gender identity calling it "liberal fascism".

" It is now that LGBT people and only LGBT  people have the right to express their non-biological gender --not the  straight people. We, who are born with biological gender with the ID of  male and female, have no right now to express our God-given gender," reads a statement by Jawed Anwar, the party's leader.

“We thank and highly appreciate the effort of Tanya Granic Allen for her enormous effort for putting the resolution on the table,” reads a statement by the party.

Islamic Party of Ontario policies

Despite the party still being in the very early stages of its development, they interestingly already have a lengthy list of policies and principles outlined.

Some of these include:

• The “Islamic Party of Ontario sets its policy of governance, economy, social justice, human dignity, healthcare, family life, environment, and justice, etc. according to the Qur’an and Sunnah.”
• “All human beings are equal and sons and daughters of same father and mother, Adam and Eve. The better among us are those who have more fear of Allah (loves God and fully obey Him); a person of character.”
• "The relationship established under a marriage contract is a sacred union between a man and a woman. God made Adam and Eve --not Adam and Steve.”
• “Interest-free capital and worker partnership economy; neither capitalism nor communism.”
• “Obscenity, vulgarity, nudity, and perversion must be checked. Liquor, drugs, adultery, gambling, etc. should be banned in society.”

While nearly all the policy statements outlined above conflict with current provincial and federal law, the Islamic Party’s policy guide also says the party upholds the “freedom of the individual, including freedom of speech, religious practices, worship, and assembly.”  

Additionally, the principles state that “to achieve the objective [IPO policies], the Islamic Party of Ontario will follow the peaceful and democratic means provided by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom.”

Seeks to radically change Ontario society and law

Currently, Ontario law is based upon the tradition and precedent of English Common Law, informed by the Judeo-Christian heritage of the province and Canada at large.

Under the current legal framework, all people are considered equal regardless of religion, race, gender etc. Same-sex marriage is also legal in Ontario and has been since 2001.

The economic system underlying Ontario’s economy is a capitalist one, albeit with certain areas of government intervention. Possession and consumption of alcohol and marijuana, acts of adultery, and gambling are all legal in Ontario today.

The Islamic Party of Ontario policy guide clearly states that if elected, they would criminalize all of these activities.

Islamic parties in Europe

Similar parties have popped up in Western countries throughout Europe.

The Islam Party of Belgium currently has three elected members. The party also hopes to run in this years European elections.

"We have every right to impose sharia here in Belgium, in the way we want,” said the Islam Party’s President Abdelhay Bakkali Tahiri.

One of the Belgian Islam Party’s policies is to segregate men and women on public transit.

How serious is this?

The party quotes that marriage should not be between Adam and Steve - twice!

It is safe to say that this is either an elaborate troll, or a poorly developed party, with near to no capacity to grow at this time.

This article will be continued in a series, stay tuned for updates!

What do you think about the formation of this party? Join the conversation by commenting below!