On the final day of the memorial, I stood with a sign: “Little Mosque on the Prairie – Two Dead Girls in Greek Town” – The crowd grew hostile. Someone pushed me into the fountain. The crowd applauded. The incident was filmed and circulated widely across social and mainstream media.

Was it Islamophobia?

The vast majority of comments agreed that I deserved to be assaulted. Months earlier, I was convicted under Canadian hate-speech law for distributing flyers critical of Islam and Muslims. The media covering the memorial confrontation were aware of my prior hate-speech conviction related to criticism of Islam.

Which is why what happened next mattered.

The day after the initial media storm, the only national organization to publicly defend my right to speak — and my right not to be assaulted for speaking — was the National Council of Canadian Muslims.

Not a civil liberties organization.
Not a Christian or Jewish advocacy group.
An Islamic organization.

NCCM stated:

“Violence is not the answer to abhorrent statements. We do not agree with that man’s statement, but as a human rights organisation, we defend his and all Canadians’ rights as guaranteed under the Canadian Charter.”

Was I wrong? Or was I biased?

That statement forced me to reconsider assumptions I had long held about Islam and its place in the West.

My decision to pursue that inquiry carried consequences. When I publicly opposed Islam, many relationships ended. When I began re-examining those views and exploring Islam more carefully, many ended again.

I paid a heavy price in both directions.

The cost did not end the inquiry. It made retreat impossible.

Independent Development 

This framework was developed independently through research, writing, and publication — without institutional sponsorship or external direction.