Prominent national Canadian Muslim organizations and umbrella groups have signed an unprecedented Statement praising Canada’s collective response to the cartoon controversy, saying Canada has “made Canadian Muslims proud.”

The Canadian Council of Muslim Women, along with the coalition of over 50 sister organizations, commends the Premier of Ontario for his announcement today that no religious laws will be allowed in private legally binding arbitration for family matters.

The Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW) expresses disappointment in Marion Boyd’s report on Ontario’s 1991Arbitration Act - which the former NDP Government, with Ms. Boyd as a Cabinet minister made law. CCMW intends to hold elected Ontario MPPs and their officials accountable for the damage that will be done if Ms. Boyd’s recommendations are not seriously questioned.

Muslim women in Canada are highly educated yet experience higher rates of underemployment and unemployment compared to other women in the country, according to a report to be released this weekend by the Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW). The report entitled, Muslim Women: Beyond the Perceptions, is the first study of its kind and presents a demographic profile of Canadian Muslim women that challenges many of the myths and stereotypes associated with this segment of the Canadian population.

The Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW) recommends that family matters are best settled under Canadian and Ontario family law statutes and regulations. Separate arbitration tribunals to settle family matters under Sharia/Muslim family law will ghettoize and further marginalize vulnerable women.