Update on the MAC Convention 

Following the completion of an internal investigation, the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) is providing an update on an incident that occurred during an interactive word-cloud exercise at our recent Convention, in which an anonymous individual submitted the antisemitic phrase “Jew free.”

First, MAC wishes to re-iterate that this phrase is offensive and hurtful to Jewish Canadians, to Muslim Canadians, and to anyone committed to a pluralistic society. It is unequivocally against Islamic teachings. Offensive and discriminatory statements of any kind have no place in the Muslim community, and MAC unequivocally states that the submission of this word was unacceptable and does not represent its values, the values taught at our Convention, or the values of Muslims. 

MAC regrets that this phrase appeared at our Convention, even briefly and even though it originated from an anonymous, bad-faith submission with no connection to the youth or the discussion taking place in the session.

MAC further addressed this incident and its broader context in an op-ed published in the National Post, outlining our position in greater detail.

Second, based on the internal investigation that was conducted following the Convention by MAC, the organization has reached the following conclusions regarding this incident:

1. The person who posted the antisemitic phrase could not be identified. All postings during the word-cloud exercise were anonymous. However, the internal investigation found that the phrase did not reflect the views, nor the discussion taking place among the Muslim youth during that session.
2. The incident was preventable. Controls available within the third-party application used to run the word-cloud exercise were not in place at the time and should have been used to screen submissions before public display. MAC is committed to ensuring that these controls are used going forward whenever it conducts similar exercises. 
3. Additional training. Facilitators of youth sessions will receive additional guidelines,  clearer protocols and training to ensure that any attempt to express hate during a live session is identified and addressed at the moment. MAC is in the process of developing these protocols.

MAC is dedicated to updating its policies with corrective measures to help prevent something similar from recurring.