头巾门事件揭示了我们一般不了解的华人社区的情况。有些人走上街头抗议，涉及到四个城市。虽然我们的公民团体支持示威权，但我们从不相信这是处理事情的最佳方式。我们一直坚信像Hijab Hoax这样的事件必须通过相互对话, 理解和交涉来解决。
几周前，我们大约20多位华社公民开始了一个给GTA的所有穆斯林国会议员的Letter Writing Campaign。这种Civic Action(公民行动)是完全自发的， 非党派的。我们觉得公民行动，是一种最有效的方法来表达我们普通华人在头巾门上的感受。 因为我们的时间和资源是有限的，所以选择这种方式。尽管我从事政治工作，并且对问题有很好的把握，但我们小组中的大多数人只是想表达对头巾门不满的普通公民。
到目前为止，我们与穆斯林国会议员的会面都是积极的。我们就许多中国加拿大人关心的问题交换了我们的看法。
我们所谈过的所有议员都单方面谴责了那个11岁女孩的撒谎行为。国会议员Yasmin Ratansi甚至说，她对这个女孩撒谎非常恼火。她也对事件之后再也没有媒体，相关人员跟进感到失望。
我们很高兴他们都对华人社区被错误地认定和指责表示遗憾并感到沮丧。国会议员Iqra Khalid甚至说小女孩的撒谎行为是很可耻的Iqra Khalid说，这个女孩如此撒谎，把整个穆斯林社区的名声和信用放在了火上烤，这太可恶了。
当我们与MP Yasmin Ratansi交谈时，她分享了一些头巾门之后她的想法。这就是她所说的：
1) 多伦多地区教育局首先召开新闻发布会是错误的。他们不应该邀请女孩参加，因为她不满18岁。
2) Yasmin Ratansi直截了当说这个孩子撒谎，并且她弟弟还帮腔，是非常不可思议的，很恶劣。但是作为家长，应该有能力鉴别孩子是否撒谎，结果，家长不但没有发觉，反而听信，并且将事态迅速扩大，这是不应该的。另外，学校和教育局应该将事情调查清楚后再对外通告，迅速召集媒体来，这样处理是不得当的。
3) 多伦多教育局在并不知道真相原委的情况下，在并没有警方介入的调查下， 就把头巾门事件称之伊斯兰恐惧症引起的仇恨犯罪是不恰当的。
4) CBC、CTV、CP24以及所有其他主要新闻媒体如果没有听到警方的全面调查，就不应该站出来表态。在收视率为王的今天，新闻媒体需要做一些自我反省。头巾门的报道是不成比例的。开始所有的媒体蜂拥而至，但是知道是乌龙事件后，稍有媒体去挖到底小孩撒谎的动机是什么，为什么要说是亚裔华裔剪了她的头巾。
5) 多伦多警方不能停止调查这起事件。首先，中国亚裔社区是被污蔑的。然而，我们都必须知道，为什么这个小女孩撒谎，为什么她的弟弟用捏造的证据撒谎。更重要的是，父母在哪里？他们为什么在骗局之后如此安静？我们需要深究这一点。
Yasmin Ratansi在听到头巾门事件之后还说，她亲自致电那个小姑娘所在地区的国会议员Salma Zahid。Yasmin Ratansi要求Salma Zahid和小孩子的家庭见面，并确保他们去的清真寺的阿訇知道，这种撒谎事件将来再也不能发生。
Omar Alghabra说他也认为CBC错误处理了头巾门事件。他个人指出，如果人们对CBC感到不满，那么他们应该通过电子邮件向CBC的法律专员发送电子邮件，要求他们重新检验内部新闻操作政策。
我们的公民行动取得了良好的进展。我们的下一个目标是与GTA的穆斯林组织会面，尽快解决头巾门事件。
The Hijab Hoax has unfolded and revealed what we normally don’t know about our own Chinese community. Some people took to the streets to protest in four cities. While our civic group supports the right to demonstrate, we never believed it is the best way to approach the Hijab Hoax. We have always firmly believed incidents like the Hijab Hoax has to be resolved through mutual dialogue, understanding and negotiation.
We started a letter writing campaign and wrote to all Muslim MPs in the GTA. We took this approach because our time and resources are limited. Even though I work in politics and have a good grasp on issues, most people in our group are just ordinary citizens who want to express their dismay.
So far, our meetings with the Muslim MPs have all been positive. We exchanged our views on issues that many in the Chinese Canadians care about.
All MPs we have talked to so far all unilaterally condemned the act of that 11 year old girl lying. MP Yasmin Ratansi even went as far to say that she is quite annoyed that the girl lied. She is also disappointed that there was no follow up after the hoax.
We are pleased that all of them expressed regret and feel disheartened that our Chinese community was falsely identified and accused. MP Iqra Khalid even went as far as to say “shame on her” about the little girl who lied. Iqra Khalid said that girl has put the reputation of the entire Muslim community on the line and that is horrible.
When we spoke to MP Yasmin Ratansi, she shared her thoughts with us post Hijab Hoax. This is what she said.
1) The Toronto District School Board was wrong to host a press conference in the first place. They should have not invited the girl to attend because she is under 18.
2) The Toronto District School Board was also wrong to call it a hate crime motivated by Islamophobia without calling in the police to fully investigate the incident.
3) CBC, CTV, CP24 and all the other major news outlets should have not jumped on the bandwagon without hearing the full investigation from the police. News outlet need to do some self-reflection: in this day and age, rating dictates news operation. However the coverage on the hijab hoax is disproportionate. So much during the hoax, not so much afterwards.
4) The Toronto Police must not stop investigating this incident. First of all, the Chinese Asian community was falsely accused and targeted. That has made many Chinese people upset. However, we must all know, why the little girl lied, why her brother lied alongside of her with fabricated evidence. And more importantly, where are the parents? Why have they been so quiet after the hoax? We need to get to the bottom of this.
Yasmin Ratansi also said after she heard the Hijab Hoax, she personally called MP Salma Zahid who represents the area of where the girl lives. Yasmin said she explicitly told Salma Zahid that Zahid should speak with the girl’s parents, understand why she lied and speak to the mosque that family attends and make sure the Imam of the mosque knows that the Hijab Hoax should have not happened and cannot ever happen again.
Our conversation with Omar Alghabra reflected similar stuff. Omar Alghabra said he also believe the CBC mishandled the Hijab Hoax incident. He personally pointed out that if people are upset with CBC, then they should have emailed CBC’s ombudsperson and demand they review their internal news operation policy.
We have made good progress in our civic action. Our next goal is to meet with Muslim organizations in the GTA to resolve the Hijab Hoax ASAP.
