Meeting between Trudeau and Muslim leaders in Quebec called off after many refuse to attend

A meeting between Muslim leaders in Quebec and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau planned for this afternoon north of Montreal — weeks ahead of a critical byelection in the city — was cancelled after many of those invited refused to attend, CBC News has learned.

"Many members of our community continue to feel angry and frustrated with a government that in their view simply hasn't operated with integrity in relation to what is happening in Gaza, or in addressing the steep rise of Islamophobia in Canada," the National Council of Canadian Muslims told CBC News in a media statement.

"While our community is not a monolith, this sentiment is widespread."

It's not clear how many people were invited to the event but the NCCM said "many members" who were invited, including "leaders and imams, declined to meet."

Invitations were issued verbally by the office of Fayçal El-Khoury, the MP for Laval-les-Iles, according to two members of the Quebec Muslim community who spoke to CBC News.

Guests were asked to go to the Château Royal, a reception hall in Laval, Que., and to expect to meet Trudeau at 3 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.

After many of those invited chose not to go, pro-Palestinian protesters showed up in front of the hall instead. 

Stéphanie Bechara, a spokesperson for Laval Police, said officers were called to the scene and managed to disperse the crowd, which was peaceful. She said police confirmed a meeting with Trudeau that was to take place at the hall had been cancelled, and informed the protesters.

In a media statement, the Prime Minister's Office declined to comment on whether the prime minister was going to attend the meeting.

The PMO said Trudeau "has always been and remains committed to [having] difficult and important conversations on the ongoing crisis in the Middle East."

Trudeau's official itinerary for Wednesday placed him in Gatineau, Que., where he held a photo-op with seniors about public dental care.

The Liberal Party referred questions to the Prime Minister's Office. Fayçal El-Khoury's office did not return requests for comment.

Hassan Guillet, an imam who was invited to the Laval meeting but did not plan to attend, called the event a "charm operation" directed at the Muslim community.

"The Muslim community is very, very upset with what is happening in Gaza," Guillet said.

"The government's reluctant to take a position in line with Canadian values and to protect international law and human lives. The community is very upset."

Trudeau's government has been calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in the bloody conflict between the government of Israel and Hamas.

In March, the Liberals also helped pass a watered-down version of an NDP motion that called for an arms embargo on Israel and the eventual recognition of a Palestinian state.

Guillet was set to run for the Liberals himself in the 2019 general election before the party revoked his candidacy in response to claims by the Jewish advocacy group B'nai Brith that he had praised a Hamas-aligned activist.

Trudeau's attempt at rapprochement with Muslims in the Montreal area comes just weeks ahead of a federal byelection in the city's Lasalle-Émard-Verdun riding, vacated when former justice minister David Lametti was shuffled out of cabinet last year and left politics.

While Montreal is typically a Liberal stronghold, both the NDP and the Bloc Québécois say they are competitive in the riding.

Trudeau has had poor polling numbers across the country for more than a year. At least one survey indicates he is losing support among both Muslims and Jews over the Middle East conflict.

The government's handling of the issue has led top Muslim donors to threaten to abandon the Liberals. Canadian mosques also wrote an open letter last spring imposing conditions on MPs from any political party visiting their halls during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

About 5 per cent of Lasalle-Émard-Verdun residents identify as Muslim, according to the 2021 Statistics Canada census.