Avery Haines, a reporter for CityNews in Toronto, was taking her son to hockey practice Sunday morning when she saw a peculiar sign on a front lawn.
I got lost taking my son to hockey this morning and passed a house with this sign out front. (1/3) @CityNews
The sign reads:
Paris, France.
I have 1 question, Members of the muslim community.
Are you sorry for The slaughter of innocent People By Whom represent your Religious Beliefs???
Haines noted the home was in a diverse area of Toronto, near a mosque.
Haines then knocked on the door to ask the couple inside more about the sign.
So I knocked on the door and asked her about it. (2/3)
"I’m just asking, are you sorry for your brothers? That’s all," the woman told Haines.
"I don’t think it’s hateful, I don’t think it’s racist. Like I said, I have just one question."
The woman's husband then came out to say they condemn the acts "these ISIS groups and these fundamentalist are doing."
And then her husband came out. 3/3 @CityNews
Haines then noted the couple had Christian "religious paraphernalia" in front of their home for Christmas.
"Do you feel as a Christian that if a right-wing fundamentalist Christian carried out some kind of bombing attack you would have to apologize?" Haines asked.
"We would have to speak up. We would have to say, you know, we’re sorry," the woman replied.
In a third video, the woman said that although she knows refugees themselves are fleeing ISIS, Canada needs to be careful about who is let into the country.
Chloe says her sign isn't meant to be hurtful/hateful nor is her message about Syrian refugees. @CityNews
Reaction on Twitter has been mixed, with some defending the couple's right to free speech and others criticizing their message.
@CityAvery she has the right to post it not a great choice of words but that's her opinion.
@CityAvery @CityNews thank u 4 asking her. I hope she realises how unfair & intimidating her sign is - ISIS is no 'brother' of all Muslims
For her part, Haines tweeted that she was "simply curious" about why they chose to put up the sign.
It wasn't confrontational in the least. I was simply curious about what and how they were feeling. @BlairCrgn