Muslim Celebrated as First Top Justice Official in Court Opening

ONTARIO – For the first time in Canada’s 150-year history, a Muslim provincial attorney-­general will attend a ceremony at the opening of the Superior Court of Justice in the South-west Region at a Muslim center on Tuesday, October 3.

Yasir Naqvi, the first Muslim to serve as a top justice official in Canada, is slated to be the keynote speaker for the event at the Islamic Centre of Southwest Ontario, London Free Press reported.

Ten years ago, the center hosted the ceremony when London MPP Chris Bentley was attorney general.

London lawyer Faisal Joseph, a senior partner at Lerners and one of the organizers of the event, along with Paul Bundgard and Michael Lerner, said at that time he hoped someday he would be at a ceremony when a Muslim would be in the job.

“Everybody laughed,” Joseph recalled. “Look how the times change.

“This is a first in Canada.”

Joseph said different faiths and cultures will be represented at the ceremony.

“We all, no matter what ­background, what religion, we all want justice to be administered fairly, with integrity and honesty.”

The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 5:15 pm on Tuesday.

Muslims represent 3.2% of Canada’s total population.

Muslims are the fastest growing religious community in Canada, according to the country’s statistical agency, Statistics Canada.

Canada’s Muslim population increased by 82 percent over the past decade – from about 579,000 in 2001 to more than 1 million in 2011.