Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau chose to stress the impact of 9/11 on Muslims and call for people to stand against “Islamophobia”, rather than radical Islam, on the 20th anniversary of the attacks.

Having called a snap election off the back of encouraging polling — which currently appears to have been a mistake — the Canadian leftist made the comments while on the campaign trail in Mississauga, Ontario, saying he wanted to kick off by “making a note” of the 9/11 anniversary after first thanking his local team.

“I was teaching in Vancouver that morning,” recalled the former substitute teacher, saying he remembered “talking to my Grade 9 students all that day and every subsequent class about what this means for the future, what that meant for the present, and I think, 20 years gone, we need to reflect on that day; on the thousands of people lost, including 24 Canadians; on the first responders, including a number of Canadians who showed up in the days and weeks afterwards to help, who rushed into danger while others were fleeing for their lives.”

Trudeau also paid tribute to “Canadians who stepped up for each other; people in Newfoundland who, even as they are dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Larry, will think back to 20 years ago with well-earned pride in having welcomed thousands upon thousands of travellers… into [their] homes, as thousands of Canadians did from Halifax to Vancouver” — a reference to those who took in travellers diverted from their intended destination in the chaos that followed the strikes on New York and the Pentagon.

He then went on to say that “I can’t help, on this anniversary, to reflect on Muslim Canadians, for whom things also changed on September 11th as attitudes shifted, and that reminds us that over these past years and continuing today into the future, we all need to stand together against intolerance, hatred, racism, and Islamophobia.”

The Liberal Party of Canada leader made no other reference to Muslims or Islam in connection with 9/11 in his remarks, and did not follow his call to stand against Islamophobia with a call to stand against jihadism and radical Islam, which have continued to claim lives in the United States, Europe, and British Commonwealth states including Canada since the 2001 attacks.

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