Dear Prime Minister Trudeau, Mr. Scheer, and Mr. Singh,

In recognition of Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation, and Prevention Month, we, a coalition of seven civil society organizations, have joined together with the support of thousands of Canadians to solemnly commemorate and condemn acts of genocide and recommit to working together to prevent genocide. We are asking for your help.

In addition to honouring the millions of lives lost to genocide, we are asking you to take three specific actions:

• Launch a national strategy to combat online hate, online propaganda, and dissemination of hateful misinformation. Recent events have demonstrated that online hate can quickly turn into real-world violence and terrorism. As people who have experienced – and continue to experience – the impact of these crimes, we ask the Government of Canada to create policy solutions to tackle this problem before more people are radicalized online. We note with appreciation the Justice Committee has started studying online hate which we believe is a good first step in creating a national strategy.
• Ensure that Canada’s refugee system is flexible, responsive, and effective in delivering emergency assistance to those who are most in need. Genocide is not simply a topic of the past. There are countless people around the world today who are persecuted and murdered because of who they are: Yezidis in Iraq, LGBTQ2+ people in Chechnya and Iran, and Rohingya in Myanmar, for example. This is a matter of life and death.
• Adopt a motion recognizing August 2^nd as a day of remembrance of the Romani Genocide. Last year, the Canadian government issued a statement in remembrance and recognition of the Romani Genocide, which we appreciate. We now ask the Canadian Parliament to formally recognize the Romani Genocide.

Sincerely,

The Armenian National Committee of Canada

Project Abraham

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs

Romanipe

The Rwandan Humura Association

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress

The Yezidi Human Rights Organization