Editor's Note: This editorial by Dr. Mohamed Elmasry was published on page A19 of the 15 April 2004 Globe and Mail. It is reprinted here with permission from Dr. Elmasry, who is a professor of computer engineering at University of Waterloo and the President of the Canadian Islamic Congress.

Canadian Muslims' new political muscle

Last September, British Muslims made political history.

In the riding of Brent, part of North West London, Muslims, outraged by the Labour government's support for the U.S.-led war on Iraq, mobilized the 6,000 Muslim voters to transfer their traditionally Labour votes to the anti-war Liberal Democrats.

The result: This traditional Labour stronghold was not only lost — the party's first by-election loss in 15 years — but was taken by 29-year-old Liberal Democrat novice, Sarah Teather, who became Britain's youngest member of Parliament. British newspapers described the result as an electoral disaster. The Guardian called the implications "catastrophic" for Prime Minister Tony Blair.

By contrast, French Muslims — who make up 10 per cent of that country's population, compared with about 4 per cent in Britain — are not politically integrated in their home country. They usually know more about the politics, political parties and politicians in their North African countries of origin than about those in France. It's no wonder the French political parties paid them zero attention when the government passed a law banning the wearing of Muslim women's headscarves (hijabs) in public institutions, including schools.

The ghetto mentality, be it geographical, social, or political, was never part of early Muslim history. Traditionally, Muslims integrated well into almost every country where they settled. They married into local populations, befriended citizens and indigenous peoples and collectively proved themselves an asset. The evidence is there, throughout the societies of Spain, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, Egypt, India and in northern and sub-Saharan Africa.

Today, democracy is not just about numbers; it is about commitment. Canadian Muslims number more than 700,000 coast to coast. That makes us the largest non-Christian religious group in the country. More than half of us were born here, the rest are immigrants from more than 50 countries and five continents — Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. No other religious minority can claim such wide cultural and ethnic diversity as Canadian Muslims.

Yet Muslims have not been fully involved in political life here, and so contribute to what has been called Canada's "democratic deficit." That must change, for the good of all Canadians and for the good of the country.

During the 1950s, the number of eligible voters who cast their ballots was consistently in the 80-per-cent range. The ratio had dropped to about 61 per cent in the last federal election; and the percentage of eligible Canadian Muslims who voted came in even lower, at 49 per cent.

I believe strongly that Canadians, before the coming federal election, must do their homework on key election issues, party policies and the track records of candidates.

In that way, they will be better prepared to vote for whomever they think will serve in the best interests of all citizens. Canadian Muslims must set the example, by adopting the practice of multi-issue, informed, committed voting.

It does our country no good if Canadians are moved to vote only by single issues, whatever they might be: the recent sponsorship scandal, abortion, gay marriage, Israel, immigration, etc. Canadian Muslims' top national issues include expected ones, such as immigration, the economy and civil liberties. But a recently researched list by the Canadian Islamic Congress also included non-traditional issues, such as the environment, defence and the rights of first nations and aboriginal peoples. On international issues, the CIC's top-10 list included: the future of the United Nations, the U.S. war on terrorism and the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands. The CIC's research found that most Canadian Muslims hold left-of-centre views on the majority of leading national and global issues the organization identified in its latest study.

That is why many Canadian Muslims are concerned about the Liberal Party's shift to the right, and very concerned that the Conservative Party is becoming a neo-con organization whose values are too far to the right for most Canadians. As well, we are very concerned that the Liberal Party has allowed a group of MPs (including some ministers) to form an official lobby group for a foreign country (Liberal Parliamentarians for Israel) as a recognized caucus committee.

For Canadian Muslims, informed voting is a religious as well as civic duty; it is like giving your testimony. According to the Koran (2:140 and 2:283), giving testimony when asked is a religious obligation.

Canadian Muslims today hold a potential swing vote ranging from 1.8 per cent to 13.5 per cent in more than 100 ridings. Of these ridings, 55 are in Ontario, 21 in Quebec, 13 in B.C., 10 in Alberta, one in Nova Scotia and one in Manitoba. The top 31 ridings where Muslims have a significant swing vote are: 20 in the Greater Toronto Area, six in Montreal, three in Ottawa, one each in Calgary and Windsor.

Since the last federal election, Canadian Muslims have made important strides to increase their political profile; for the coming election, two candidates are running for each of the Liberal, NDP and Conservative parties.

Can Canadian Muslims reduce this country's democratic deficit in the coming federal election by becoming multi-issue, informed voters? I hope and pray, for the sake of all Canadians, that this will be so.