Safira Merriman / Via Facebook

Last week a pregnant woman in Montreal fell to the ground when two teenagers tried to rip her hijab from her head. The National Council of Canadian Muslims, a civil rights group that tracks anti-Muslim incidents, has called on both incidents to be investigated as potential hate crimes.

"It is time for our political leaders to put aside the divisive, and potentially dangerous, rhetoric that has created an unnecessary climate of fear and anxiety among Canadians," Ihsaan Gardee, NCCM's executive director, said in a statement Monday.

The federal election campaign has been dominated by discussions about the niqab, immigration and citizenship, and "barbaric cultural practices," which critics say is a thinly-veiled reference to Muslim Canadians.

The Conservative Party, which has been driving the debate on these hot-button cultural issues, says it is standing up for the rights of women and girls.