Jagmeet Singh speaks out on London, Ontario killing of Muslim family

On Monday, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh spoke out on the Sunday night killing of a Muslim family out for a walk in London, Ontario.

"It is, again, unimaginable that the act of killing an entire family, the way that this now hate crime is rocking our country," said Singh.

"I’ve reached out to some Muslim community members and they sobbed hearing the news. Thinking about their own family members, they go for walks in the neighbourhood," he continued.

Singh called out radicalization from he extreme right, hate groups, and white supremacists as being "the real and urgent threat to safety right now in Canada."

"And to just think about the chilling and heartless and vicious killing of an entire family by an act of hate like that, really shakes everyones sense of safety and security," said Singh. "As we’ve said for a long time, that radicalization from the extreme right, from hate groups, white supremists, are the real and urgent threat to safety right now in Canada."

Singh goes on to highlight the recent string of killings of Muslim Canadians.

"And we are seeing attack after attack, from the attack in Quebec City where innocent Muslim community members were praying and shot in their place of prayer," said Singh. "We saw an attack in Toronto where a Muslim man was killed, again, in a case of hate crime, and now an entire family.

"My heart breaks for the Muslim community. My heart breaks for everyone who’s thinking about the family right now. I grieve with the family. I grieve with the survivors, the family that survives, this family that was taken from us, and I commit to you that we need to build a safer place," Singh stated. "We need to find ways to tackle hate, and I just can’t find the words right now. This is horrible what’s happened."

On Sunday night, a family out for a walk in London’s north end was struck by a pickup truck at around 8:40pm, according to police.

The deceased include a 74-year-old female, a 46-year-old male, a 44-year-old female, and a 15-year-old female. According to police, one 9-year-old male survived and remains in hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.

Police arrested Nathaniel Veltman, 20, of London, in connection with the incident and he was charged with four counts of first degree murder and one count of attempt murder.

"Investigators believe that this was an intentional act and that the victims were targeted because of their Islamic faith. There is evidence that this was a planned, premeditated act, motivated by hate," said the police report.