Darine Houmani

Idil Issa is writer, public speaker, community organizer and Canadian Muslim woman based out of Montreal. She is the co-founder of the municipal political party Mouvement Montreal and the informal Muslim women's advocacy network called Femmes Musulmanes Contre le Racisme (FEMCOR).

On her website we can read that she has worked in Qatar, Malaysia, South Africa, and Canada, helping organizations and companies refine their communications to support their overall mission. She writes frequently for outlets such as the Globe and Mail, Esquire Malaysia, COLORS Magazine, and Maisonneuve Magazine, among others, on issues including race, religion, and gender. She appears regularly on media outlets such as CBC & CTV to advocate for the rights of marginalized and oppressed groups, with a focus on the intersectional experiences of Muslim women of color.

Here is an interview with her:

Q: What motivated you to become interested in politics?

A: I am a McGill law student. I'm finishing this year. Prior to that, I worked in communications for about ten years. And, I also did a degree in philosophy and political science. I've worked in Qatar. I've worked in South Africa. I've worked in Malaysia for two years. So I've kind of traveled a lot and then came back to Canada in 2016.

Basically, I was motivated to get into politics because I do want to see a positive change in society. so this is really why I wanted to get involved. There's a lot of different tools to improve society.  

But one of the best tools is actually to get involved in politics. So that's really why. 

Q: Do you have specific priorities in your campaign?

A: I'm really focused on the environment. Also on foreign policy because I'm running against Melanie Jolie.

And, of course, she's been very much involved in in a terrible foreign policy in Gaza. So I know that foreign policy is very important for the district. And then also affordability in terms of renting, so housing.

Q: In December 2023, CBC included you in their roster of Black Changemakers for the year. In 2020, the Montreal Gazette recognized you among a sampling of women making their mark in Quebec. What does this mean to you?

A: It's definitely an honor. You know, there's a deeper level to being in politics, where, at the end of the day, it's really about the community. I'm incredibly honored and grateful to be recognized, but this is also about something bigger than me, it's about my community.

I truly want all Quebecers to feel seen and heard, including, for example, Muslim women who have been significantly affected by things like Bill 21, and other minorities, like internationally trained doctors who, when they arrive in Canada, end up driving taxis despite holding advanced degrees. These are the kinds of injustices we need to address.

I really want to help people like that and make sure that society is fair for them.

Q: Many Canadians are concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. What’s your stance on the ongoing warfare? Do you believe Canada should take a more active role in pushing for a ceasefire?

A: Absolutely. I think Canada has unfortunately been sending weapons to Israel, and we have to remember that the member of parliament in a Ahuntsic is actually the foreign minister as well.

This is not only unfortunate, it’s a disgrace. Canada once had a strong reputation as a peacemaker. We were known for our peacekeepers and respected internationally for our diplomacy. Now, it feels like we’re shifting toward becoming a country that supports war.

I’m strongly opposed to what’s happening in Gaza, and if elected, I would advocate against it and work toward a more just and peaceful foreign policy.

Q: Canada recently approved a contract for the export of artillery propellants to the Israeli military via the United States, despite an explicit commitment from the Foreign Affairs Minister, Joly, that she would stop such transfers. What do you think about that?

A: See, this is the game that the Liberals play in terms of actually playing with language, because they tell the public we're not selling weapons to Israel, but they're able to sell weapons to Israel by first sending them to The United States.

So We need politicians who are honest about Gaza, who tell the truth and do not lie or mislead the public. And, you know, I was at a debate with Melanie Jolie last night, and I spoke about how we need to have an arms embargo, how Israel is actually preventing food from coming into Gaza. And she actually laughed. And I have the video, and I'm going to post it on social media very soon. But, she doesn't take this seriously. But if voters come out and vote for me, we're going to show her that we're serious about this.

Q: There are Jews in Canada who criticize Israel and its ongoing war on Gaza. Do you think it’s time for Canada to redefine antisemitism? Not everyone who criticizes Israel is anti-Semitic.

A: Actually, if I'm being honest, because I like to be an honest person as much as I can, both the Muslim community and the Jewish community has a problem with this issue of redefining terms. So the Jewish do this with Anti-Semitism, but the Muslims also do this with Islamophobia.

We cannot damage free speech. People have to be able to criticize even our community. I have to stay honest. Everyone should be able to criticize and not be accused of being Islamophobia or accused of being anti-Semitic. We have to stop this expansion of language.

And I think some members of the Muslim community are saying, well, you know what? Let's work with the liberals because they're going to let us have a bigger definition of Islamophobia. But at the same time, they're supporting a genocide in Gaza. So we cannot we cannot pick and choose like that.

We have to stay consistent. We have to say that this is wrong for all communities to be doing this. Free speech is very important in Canada, and we cannot forget about Gaza.

Q: In one of your articles in The Globe and Mail you wrote: “Mr. Legault’s refusal to name systemic racism isn’t just a matter of symbolic semantics; it’s a matter of acknowledging a complex problem.” Do you think that Islamophobia has gone beyond an idea and become systemic racism?

A: It's a complex issue. I almost feel like a sociologist could better answer this in terms of the difference between Islamophobia and the difference between racism and defining that. I think for me, what matters is that every day Canadians, including Muslims, including people of color, whether that's Arabs from North Africa, where there's so many here in in Montreal, and they add so much to our society. I mean, they are definitely a big, big benefit for our society to make sure that everyone has the same opportunities.

Let's remember, people from these communities are extremely hardworking. They're extremely qualified. They're engineers. They are doctors. They are teachers. They have qualifications.

And for both the Quebec and Canadian governments to act this way, with the provincial government passing laws like Bill 21 which prevents Muslim women from working as teachers, and the federal government failing to speak out strongly against it, is detrimental.

The government needs to stop bothering them. They need to stop preventing them and making life difficult for them. They have to allow them to flourish because these people definitely want to contribute to society. But, if you don't give them a path, they they're not going to be able to contribute in the way they possibly could.

Q: Do you think Bill 21 creates additional problems within Canadian society?

A: It does, because it damages our moral authority. We used to have a moral standing in the world. Remember, religious rights are protected by the charter, which is part of our constitution.

Imagine a similar law that says black people cannot become teachers in Quebec or black people cannot become, uh, public prosecutors. We would have a big protest. Nobody would accept this.

Why do we accept this for Muslim moment. It's unacceptable. So this is why it's damaging our moral authority, and the federal government is also a part of it because they're not speaking up enough against it.

Q: Housing is a major issue in Canada, with rising rents. Does the NDP have a specific policy to address this?

A: These are a few of our policies that we want to put forward. For housing, we want to implement national rent control. What this means is we want to control the price of rent. So landlords, I mean, they do have, a point when they want to increase the rent each year because, of course, at the very least, they want to increase it by 2%. To keep up with inflation.

But sometimes the rent increases are just not normal. Imagine if your rent doubles—that’s a 100% increase. Or even a 50% increase—who’s getting a 50% raise in their salary every year?

So this is why we need a national rent control to make sure that rent prices are in line with people's incomes, that it's actually something, that they can afford. And one of the reasons why this is happening is because there's a lot of speculation in the housing market. Investors are buying houses, and they're not actually living in those houses. This is also part of the problem.

National Rent Control is one of our big policy platforms.

Q: Regarding the health system, there’s a big difficulty in accessing family doctors. Is there any plan for that?

A: NDP is the party that really cares about people. So in terms of, for example, the National Dental Care Program, the Liberals take credit for that, but we forced them to actually include this in their platform. They were not going to do it without us, but we said, if you want us, because remember, the Liberals had a minority government. They did not have enough votes in the house of parliament to actually, they did not have enough votes to actually govern. So they needed to work with the NDP in order to stay in power.

And we forced them. We said, if we're going to help you stay in power, then you need to have a national dental program. So we definitely take this very seriously. We're always going to push the liberals in terms of making sure that every single Canadian has a family doctor because it's just it's just not acceptable. Definitely, we are always pushing on the health portfolio.

Q: Some critics say Canada’s multiculturalism policy has created cultural silos. Do you think the approach needs rethinking?

A: Definitely, we need an approach to immigration that is in line with what communities can absorb. We need to make sure that communities have enough resources to accept people. We need to have enough housing for new immigrants. We need to have language services for new immigrants.

We need to have help for them in terms of finding jobs. So definitely there's a work to be done in terms of making sure that new immigrants have everything they need to integrate. But, this is this is something that that we should do. I think the Liberal government, unfortunately, its immigration policy is a little bit, disorganized.

For example, Quebec was complaining because it absorbed a lot of asylum seekers without enough resources to make sure that these asylum seekers were taken care of. It needs to be more organized, and funding needs to be attached to immigration so that host communities can actually absorb the new immigrants.

Q: Many Canadians believe change is needed. What would you tell them about what you hope to do to achieve this?

A: Honestly, for politicians, I think it's important to have people in power who are not too attached to being there. It's almost like there's a saying in in our community that the person who wants the job, you shouldn't give it to them. The person who wants leadership, don't give it to them because they will not do the right thing for people because they want to stay in power.

So for me, I have a profession. I am a lawyer. I have a job. I have a profession. But if you look at Pierre Polievre, he's never had a real job. He's only been a politician from the age of 25 years old. So politicians like that, career politicians who do not have a private sector profession are not the right people to make decisions for everyday Canadians.

They cannot they would never sacrifice their power in order to do the right thing. So I think people like myself and other members of the NDP, who have professions, who have lived in the real world, will be able to go into the parliament and make the right decision for people.

Q: What’s your opinion on Trump’s statements about annexing Canada and threatening its economy?

A: Nowadays the way that annexation happens in our in our modern times, it's no longer through warfare.

Nowadays, the annexation that takes place, whether it's Russia and Ukraine or around the world, even, between Canada and The United States, is through economic means. So if American investors come into Canada and purchase our important companies, purchase our mineral resources, purchase potash, which is a lucrative export from Saskatchewan, they don't need to make a war against us. They can actually annex us financially. So this is Trump's rhetoric. We don't need to worry about that.

What we need to look at who is actually buying up our resources, our companies, our land. There's a lot of foreign interests buying up our agricultural land. So this is, I think, more important than Trump's rhetoric.

Q: What would it mean to you to be elected?

A: I think it would be very symbolic because, of course, I'm running against Melani Joni, who is the minister of foreign affairs. I don't know if she really is aware of how unhappy people in the riding are with her policy on Gaza.

I think it's such a shame because people had high hopes for her and high expectations. But I think this is really a red line for a lot of people in the district. And, it would be for me, it's not about staying in power for a long time. I really just want to be able to do something positive. And so it would be an opportunity for me to represent the people and actually make decisions that benefit them.