Muslim man told not to pray in Canadian train station

Via Rail apologises 'unreservedly' after incident goes viral

A Canadian train company has apologised after a viral video showed a member of staff at Ottawa train station telling a Muslim man he was not allowed to pray there.

In the short video posted on TikTok, a security guard tells the man: “Don't pray in here. We don't want you praying here, you are bothering our other customers.

“Pray outside next time, OK?”

@a.p416

Part 2. Obviously a lot of this whole situation wasn’t recorded. He said dont pray here. And said im gonna complain to your employer right now, and went into an office. By then a bunch of people came to check on me and said don’t mind him, this isn’t ottawa.. we apologize keep doing your thing you’re not bothering anyone It was just a disrespectful, racist and awful situation to be apart of, and I hope nobody has to deal with anything like this. It was disgusting to say the very least. How can this stuff be happening in my home country canada… not the states… CANADA #ottawa #viarail #racismneedstostop #islamophia

♬ original sound - A.P

Via Rail, which runs the station, apologised “unreservedly to the individuals involved and to the entire Muslim community”.

The company said it had met members of the National Council of Canadian Muslims and would be working with the group to try to avoid any future incidents.

“Freedom of religion, including the ability to worship, is a human right and is enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” Via Rail said in a statement.

It added that it “strongly condemns and will not tolerate any form of discriminatory behaviour”.

Updated: March 25, 2023, 6:49 AM