Nearly a year after a deadly mass shooting inside a Quebec City mosque, Mohamed Labidi is weighing an outpouring of support from Canadians against signs that Islamophobia continues to rise in his community.
鈥淢y feeling is split between hope and fear,鈥� the president of the Quebec City Islamic Centre told CTV News on Sunday.
Six people were killed and 19 injured in the shooting inside his place of worship on Jan. 29, 2017. Monday marks one year since the attack. Alexandre Bissonnette, 27, faces six counts of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder. His trial is scheduled to begin March 26.
Labidi says he hoped the shocking act of violence would quell longstanding cultural divisions and that hate crimes would fall. Those hopes were dashed. Quebec City police said hate crimes doubled in 2017.
Far-right groups like La Meute appeared emboldened in the wake of the shooting. Some claimed the attack had been blown out of proportion.
Meanwhile, a plan to establish the area鈥檚 first Muslim-owned cemetery in the town of Saint-Apollinaire was voted down by residents.
鈥淚t was very astonishing that you can find one person that can say no and stand against a cemetery for someone,鈥� Labidi said.
A parcel of land was found three weeks later, but only after .
Days after that, Labidi became a target.
鈥淢y own car was burned because I am Muslim,鈥� he said. 鈥淪till we are receiving messages of hatred, messages of rejection.鈥�
In October, Quebec鈥檚 National Assembly also introduced of a controversial bill that prohibits citizens from receiving or giving public services with their faces covered. The legislation was widely criticized as targeting Muslim women who wear face veils.
The public rallies ahead of a offered, for many, a glimmer of hope that Quebecers are willing to stand up for the religious freedoms of Muslims.
Labidi says that he has enough signs of support over the past year to remain cautiously optimistic about the future.
鈥淭ogether, we will emerge stronger from this,鈥� he said. 鈥淢ore united then before.鈥�
With a report from CTV鈥檚 Vanessa Lee is Quebec City and The Canadian Press
