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OTTAWA — Heritage Minister Melanie Joly fired broadsides Thursday at the Conservative party and several of its leadership candidates for fomenting anti-Muslim sentiment, bringing a smouldering online culture war between Liberals and Conservatives on to the floor of the House of Commons.

The issue that sparked Joly’s condemnation was a parliamentary debate about whether or not MPs ought to condemn “Islamophobia.”

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Conservatives took issue with that term, arguing that it is vague at best and, at worst, could lead to censure of legitimate discussion about Islam.

For example, Marilyn Gladu, a Conservative MP from Sarnia, Ont., told the Commons she was worried she’d be accused of being “Islamophobic” if she voiced concerns that ISIL terrorists would want to rape and behead her.

Joly was having no such hair-splitting, accusing Conservatives of refusing to acknowledge Islamophobia in Canada even as they whip up anti-Islam sentiment to raise money and generate political support.