Canada Dedicates Cemetery to Muslims for the First Time in Quebec

Quebec City had promised a separate Muslim graveyard after a shooting attack by a white supremacist.

Ottawa, MINA – After 20 years, Muslims in Quebec City have finally acquired their own cemetery, Canadian media cited the city’s mayor and members of the Muslim community on Friday.

According to WAM, the announcement comes three weeks after a referendum narrowly defeated the establishment of a Muslim-only burial ground, a project headed by the Quebec Islamic Culture Centre.

The 6,000-square-metre site will open in the fall, and will be the first Muslim-owned and operated cemetery in the Quebec City region.

“It’s a great day,” said Mohamed Labidi, head of the Quebec Islamic Culture Centre. “It is an historic day for Quebec City. Today, we are reaping the benefits of 20 years of hard work,” he added.

Boufeidja Benabdallah, interim coordinator of the cemetery project, said the cemetery means Muslim families in the area will not have to face a long trip to visit their deceased relatives and friends. The current closest Muslim cemetery is 266 kilometers away.

The new site is next to the Notre-Dame-de-Belmont cemetery, and near the centre, where six Muslims were gunned down while at prayer earlier this year. (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)