A radical Islamic group's Canadian conference for the establishment of a caliphate across much of Europe, Africa and the Middle East was cancelled on Tuesday, according to an announcement by organizers.
"Hizb ut Tahrir Canada hereby announces, with regret, the cancellation of the Khilafah Conference 2025," the Canadian branch of the political party said on Facebook. "This decision was necessitated by circumstances that were beyond our reasonable control."
Advertisements and registration links were removed from the Hizb ut Tahrir Canada website and social media.
The January 18 conference, originally set to be held in Hamilton but moved to Mississauga, was met with opposition by local and federal politicians and religious leaders since its announcement.
Associate Public Safety Minister Rachel Bendayan said on X Tuesday that she was "pleased to see this conference was cancelled."
In a Monday statement the Canadian government called for the cancellation of the Saturday event, which would have included lectures on how nation-states are the enemies of Islam, how the US and colonial powers fear a restored Caliphate and how it could defeat America, and how only a caliphate would be able to "liberate Palestine."
Public Safety Minister David McGuinty and Bendayan said in the statement that law enforcement agencies would monitor the event for violations of the law, including those related to hate speech, as they asserted Hizb ut Tahrir had a documented history of glorifying violence, promoting antisemitism, and advancing extremist ideology.
"Our government is resolute in its efforts to fight antisemitism and extremism in all its forms," said McGuinty and Bendayan.
Listing Hizb ut Tahrir as a terrorist group
McGuinty and Bendayan condemned the group for its celebration of the October 7 Massacre and support for terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, and said they were assessing if Hizb ut Tahrir should be listed as a terrorist entity under Canadian law.
Bnai Brith Canada and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) had called on McGuinty to prevent the conference from occurring and to list Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terrorist group, with the latter commencing a letter campaign to the Public Safety Minister last Thursday.
“More than 13,000 Canadians united to call on the federal government to stop the pro-Hamas Hizb ut-Tahrir from spreading its dangerous agenda in our country. Our community and allies have made our voices heard—and we've made an impact," CIJA Ontario Vice President Michelle Stock said in a Tuesday statement. “This is important progress in keeping Canadians safe. We are relieved that this conference isn't happening, but we also know that the fight against extremism cannot stop. We will continue to urge the Government of Canada to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir as an illegal terrorist organization, as is the case in the UK and Germany.”
As Israeli Ambassador to Canada Iddo Moed welcomed the cancellation of the "The Khilafah: Eliminating the Obstacles that are Delaying its Return" conference, he also joined calls for Canada to join the 13 countries that had banned HT.
"Despite this development, we are deeply concerned that Hizb ut-Tahrir remains free to operate in Canada," Moed said in a statement shared by the Israeli embassy on social media.
Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwarth, who had opposed the holding of the conference in her city and committed to declining the use of municipal property for the event, said that the Ontario city's residents together "stopped this divisive and hateful conference."
"We will continue to stand up against hate in all its forms," Horwarth said on X. "As Mayor, I remain committed to a Hamilton where everyone belongs and can build a life - free of hate, fear, discrimination, and intimidation."
The event had planned to move to Hamilton from Mississauga after opposition and pressure from Mayor Carolyn Parrish, who reiterated in a Monday letter to the Global Imams Council that the city had banned Hizb ut-Tahrir from renting or gathering in municipal buildings for over 10 years.
On Friday the Global Imams Council issued a statement to McGuinty warning him that the event posed a threat to social cohesion.
"The very notion of a conference promoting the establishment of a caliphate within Canada is deeply alarming and offensive, not only to the broader Canadian public but also to the overwhelming majority of Muslims in the country who uphold democratic values and actively contribute to Canada's multicultural society," said the council. "Hizb ut-Tahrir's stated agenda and extremist rhetoric foster's division and isolate Muslims from the rest of society."
Advertisements for the Khilafah conference highlighted the territory that HT wished to replace to establish the Khalifah, including Spain, Greece, India, much of the Balkans, and the upper half of Africa.
In a draft constitution on its HT Canada's website, which explains how a Jizya tax will be leveled on non-Muslim Caliphate residents, it is also detailed that a caliphate would be obligated to continue a war against Israel until it would be destroyed, as all "Muslim land" had to be reclaimed.
"The situation of actual war has to remain with it, irrespective if there was a truce which was contracted with it by illegitimate rulers in the Muslim lands," reads the proposed caliphate constitution. "Islam requires that all of the Muslims fight against it, and so their armies must be sent to fight, and all those capable of fighting be gathered in the army, and for this to continue until the Jewish State is finished."
Hizb ut Tahrir, founded in Jerusalem in 1953, is against liberal democracy, according to the Canadian chapter website.