OTTAWA, ONTARIO – Imam Zijad Delic arrived in Canada to find he had three choices on how to adapt to his new surroundings.

He could set aside his religious beliefs and traditions in exchange for acceptance by the general population.

Or he could isolate himself out of fear of becoming assimilated.

The route Delic chose, the route chosen by many Muslims, was the middle ground of constructive integration.

“We maintain our religious identities without losing sense of who we are in that regard,” said the executive director of the Canadian Islamic Congress. “However, we become participating citizens of this great country.”

The path to developing a Canadian identity that meshes with the Islamic faith has not been without its potholes.

Quebec, in particular, has been the scene for many of those bumps in the road. One such example occurred in February when a young Ottawa girl was kicked off a Laval, Que., soccer pitch for wearing an Islamic head scarf called a hijab.

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