Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has again chosen to “divide” the country, by “appointing someone who has made anti-Quebec, anti-Jewish, and anti-police remarks” to the position of Canada’s first Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia, Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre
tweeted on Jan. 27 following Trudeau’s announcement a day earlier.
When questioned about the new appointment at a Jan. 27
scrum on Parliament Hill, the prime minister said he expects Amira Elghawaby,
described in her biographical note as a human rights advocate and past founding board member of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, to clarify comments she made about Quebecers.
“I don’t agree with [the] statements, and I expect them to be clarified. The reality is that she has an important job to do in building bridges. We have to fight Islamophobia wherever it exists,” Trudeau said in French.
Poilievre’s comments followed Trudeau’s Jan. 26
announcement that Elghawaby will “serve as a champion, advisor, expert, and representative to support and enhance the federal government’s efforts in the fight against Islamophobia, systemic racism, racial discrimination, and religious intolerance.”
Her appointment is for four years and will
come with a $5.6 million budget for the first five years.
Elghawaby “will promote awareness of the diverse and intersectional identities of Muslims in Canada and provide advice to the government in the development of inclusive policies, legislative proposals, programs, and regulations that reflect their realities,” said Trudeau’s announcement.
“She will also help advance respect for equity, inclusion, and diversity and shine a light on the important contributions of Muslims to our country’s national fabric.”
In a Jan. 27 video statement, Poilievre said, “Trudeau has again insulted Quebecers, Jews, and police officers,” by naming someone to a key government post who has made “unacceptable and divisive” comments against those groups.
Poilievre said it is “incredible” that someone who made comments such as these would be named to a position “supposedly meant to fight racism.”
“This isn’t the first time Justin Trudeau has promoted these kinds of views. His government gave massive grants to an organization whose lead spokesman had made racist, anti-semitic comments,” alleged Poilievre.
On the same day, Elghawaby
tweeted, “I don’t believe that Quebecers are islamophobic. My past comments were in reference to a poll on Bill 21. I will work with partners from all provinces and regions to make sure we address racism head on.”
Bill 21, passed by Quebec in June 2019, prohibits government workers, including teachers in Francophone public schools, police officers, government lawyers, and others, from wearing religious symbols at work in the province. Quebec invoked the notwithstanding clause in the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the Constitution Act in an effort to insulate the law from court challenges. However,
legal challenges have been brought against it.
Elghawaby did not respond to requests for an interview by press time, but told reporters at a Jan. 26 press conference that Muslims are sometimes “perceived as a threat or as representing a problem to solve.”
Controversial Columns
Quebec newspaper La Presse, in a Jan. 26 article,
said Quebec had asked for an apology from Elghawaby, who co-authored a July 11, 2019,
opinion piece in the Ottawa Citizen that said, “Unfortunately, the majority of Quebecers appear to be swayed not by the rule of law, but by anti-Muslim sentiment.”
La Presse also said Elghawaby accused Premier François Legault of denying the existence of Islamophobia, quoting her as writing, “Politicians who continue to pander to xenophobic tendencies must be called on the carpet.”
On May 21, 2021, a tweet
attributed to Elghawaby stated, “I’m going to puke,” in response to a Globe and Mail opinion piece that said “the largest group of people in this country who were victimized by British colonialism, subjugated and incorporated into confederation by force, are French Canadians.”
She reportedly removed the tweet and later said she regretted it.
However, she has made other controversial comments. For example, in a March 13, 2021, column in the Toronto Star, Elghawaby
wrote, “Clearly, the time has come to sever ties with one of the most powerful symbols of racial oppression: the British monarchy itself.”
“The reality of what this antiquated institution represents has been glossed over for far too long in the public imagination. Though not so for populations that experienced colonization and continue to feel its damaging impacts,” she alleged.
“There is no doubt it would be difficult to remove the Queen as head of state; it would require the agreement of all the provinces. Though it would be worth it,” she wrote.
Elghawaby argues that this would be “the best way to right the severe historical wrongs of colonialism,” wrote the Star in its introduction to her column.
In a June 29, 2021, column titled “We don’t need Canada Day to celebrate each other,” Elghawaby agreed with calls for the
cancellation of Canada Day because of its “dominant, European, Judeo-Christian storytelling.”
“The narratives and histories interwoven about the founding of this country have for too long created a false sense of what it means to be Canadian, often far removed from painful realities and shrouded in the mythmaking,” she wrote.
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Elghawaby was a guest speaker at a 2017 protest “against white supremacy and racism” in Ottawa, outside the U.S. Embassy.
She also
wrote a column for the Toronto Star headlined, “Are you an Anti-Fascist? (Hint: the answer should be yes),” published on Jan. 12, 2021.
Blacklock’s noted other controversial comments made by Elghawaby, which included advocating for the disarming of police in an April 20, 2021, Toronto Star
column, and calling the Québec government a “bully” that “legitimized the violation of human rights” in a
column in the Ottawa Citizen on Oct. 19, 2017.
Elghawaby advocated for government censorship of content on the internet in an Aug. 10, 2022, Toronto Star
column, stating: “It’s clearly time for regulation. We cannot let perfection be the enemy of the good.”
