Ontario MPP Gurratan Singh is being applauded for calling out racist and Islamophobic comments from a heckler in a video posted to Twitter Sunday.
In the video, a man identified as National Citizens Alliance founder Stephen Garvey confronts Singh at MuslimFest in Mississauga, Ont. Garvey asks Singh if he supports Shariah law and “political Islam.”
Singh, who is Sikh, repeatedly responds directly to Garvey, calling his statements “racist” and “hateful.”
“Your Islamophobia is wrong,” Singh says. “You’re racist.”
Garvey is the founder and leader of the National Citizens Alliance (NCA). The group, which is registered as a minor political party federally, advocates for limiting immigration rates and states that “climate change is a hoax” on their website.
In the video, Garvey can be heard repeatedly saying he’s “not racist.”
“Political correctness and pandering to ethnic minorities confronted.... someone had to do it…” Garvey tweeted alongside a link to the video.
Singh, who represents Brampton East, is the brother of federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. In a tweet addressing the video, Gurratan credited Jagmeet for teaching him to always confront racism.
“I will never respond to an Islamophobe by stating, ‘I am not a Muslim’,” Singh wrote. “Instead, I will always stand with my Muslim brothers and sisters and say hate is wrong ✊🏾.”
When asked by reporters about the video Monday, Jagmeet said he was proud of the way his brother responded.
“For so many Canadians, this a reality, that what happened to my brother yesterday is not a one-off incident,” he said.
From 2017: Heckler interrupts Jagmeet Singh’s meet and greet in Brampton Ont.
Singh’s reaction to the rant has garnered an outpouring of online support from across political lines. Many people applauded his calm demeanour and refusal to acknowledge Garvey’s statements.