With a star-studded guest list of 75 elected officials from all three levels of government, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself, The Canadian-Muslim Vote (TCMV) welcomed 1,000 people this past weekend at what is likely the largest dinner party in Canadian politics. With all major federal parties speaking publicly for the first time since Parliament closed for the summer, the event had the tone of an unofficial campaign launch.

If you haven’t heard of it yet, the TCMV annual Eid Dinner has become a cornerstone event in Canadian politics. It’s a forum for the Canadian-Muslim community to show their elected officials they are politically engaged, and for politicians to show they care about our community.

Why does this dinner party matter? In the wake of Quebec’s Bill 21, it symbolizes how political power in the Canadian-Muslim community has grown in four short years.

Four years ago, a small group of people met in the basement of a mosque to discuss launching a new organization that would get out the vote in a traditionally under-engaged community. Those early meetings in 2015, the year of the last federal election, were the birthplace of TCMV, a non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting civic engagement in the community.

Four years later, as the next federal election is upon us, TCMV has now become a national best practice for tailored voter education and engagement campaigns. What happened in between? Thousands of hours of grassroots political organizing, door-knocking, empowering youth through political internships, and educating the community about political issues in between elections.

Four years ago Canadian Muslims were known to have lower-than-average voter turnout, and today the community is one of the most politically active demographics in Canada. TCMV is an example of voter engagement that works and we have the numbers to prove it.

The Canadian-Muslim community is now a politically empowered electorate, boasting voter turnout numbers above the national average, at 79 per cent in both the 2015 federal election and the 2018 Ontario provincial election, as compared to 67 per cent and 58 per cent respectively.

As a community of approximately 1.5 million across Canada, there are 23 ridings (many of which are swing ridings in the GTA) that have a Muslim population of 10 per cent or more. When looking at these swing ridings, 2019 election projections by the Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy indicate that the outcome in many swing ridings could be decided by how the Canadian-Muslim community votes this fall.

The Canadian-Muslim community – now more politically active than ever before – could tangibly impact on the election outcome.

As Canadians head to the polls in October, I will be taking note of how political rhetoric about our community changes. While the 2015 election campaign centered on issues like the niqab ban and the infamous “barbaric cultural practices” hotline, 2019 will be a whole different ballgame and party leaders will need to be mindful of language, lest they lose votes from a key demographic.

With the passing of regressive Bill 21 in Quebec, we still have a long way to go. However, party leaders and candidates would be remiss if they go into this election campaign assuming a new wave of politically active Canadian Muslims won’t veto Islamophobic rhetoric this October.

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Seher Shafiq is an advocate for inclusive democracy in Canada.

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