Edmonton police investigate after Islamophobic graffiti found near daycare

Edmonton police investigate after Islamophobic graffiti found near daycare

Incident condemned by mayor, national advocacy group

The Edmonton Police Service is investigating after Islamophobic graffiti was scrawled near a daycare for Muslim children on the city’s north side.

The matter became public on Monday after the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) posted a screenshot of the graffiti online.

“The community is feeling frightened, they're feeling threatened, they're feeling intimidated, and they're worried about the safety of their families and their children,” Yahya Jama, NCCM’s Western Canada senior advocacy officer, said in an interview with CBC News.

“When someone vandalizes and puts intimidating graffiti next to a daycare or a school, the intent is pretty clear, and that's to ensure that Muslim families and children don't feel safe, and that's absolutely unacceptable.”

Mayor Andrew Knack provided a statement to CBC News condemning the incident.

“I am appalled by the hateful graffiti discovered outside a Muslim school and daycare here in Edmonton,” Knack said.

“It is Islamophobia, and it is completely unacceptable. No child should arrive at school and be confronted with messages of hate directed at who they are. No parent should have to explain to their child why their school was targeted — not in Edmonton, not anywhere.”

WARNING: The following image shows graffiti depicting racist, hateful sentiments

In January, the Canadian Human Rights Commission pointed to Statistics Canada's data that showed a 173 per cent increase between 2020 to 2024 in police-reported hate crimes targeting Muslim people.

Jama said the incident is part of a concerning trend of Islamophobia across Canada and Edmonton.

In early May, a 56-year old Black man was assaulted as he was driving home with his family from a Muslim centre in St. Albert.

“Just recently we had a situation in St. Albert where a man was beaten senseless after leaving the mosque, and this has been an unfortunate pattern that we're seeing, and this isn't slowing down.”

Jama is calling on all levels of government to come forward to denounce the incident and Islamophobia.

Mrinali is a reporter with CBC Edmonton with an interest in stories centred on labour issues. She has worked in newsrooms across the country in Toronto, Windsor and Fredericton. She has chased stories for CBC's The National, CBC Radio's Cross Country Checkup and CBC News Network. Reach out at Mrinali.anchan@cbc.ca