It didn’t take long for Amira Elghawaby, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s newly-appointed special representative on combating Islamophobia to ignite a political firestorm, although probably not the way she anticipated.
Trudeau announced her appointment Friday.
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By Monday, the Quebec government was calling for her apology and resignation for writing in a 2019 Ottawa Citizen column, along with human rights activist Bernie Farber, that, “Unfortunately, the majority of Quebecers appear to be swayed not by the rule of law, but by anti-Muslim sentiment.”
In their article headlined, “Quebec’s Bill 21 shows why we fear the tyranny of the majority” they cited a poll showing a correlation between Quebecers who had negative views of Islam with support for Bill 21, the secular law banning the wearing of religious symbols by public sector workers while on the job.
Trudeau said Friday he disagreed with Elghawaby’s portayal of Quebecers and expected her to clarify her views, but added on Monday that he supports her.
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Elghawaby tweeted Friday that, “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.”
That didn’t convince her critics.
Quebec’s secularism minister, Jean-Francois Roberge, called for her to apologize and resign and if she won’t, for Trudeau to fire her,
BQ leader Yves-Francois Blanchet called them “a string of insults” against Quebec.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre accused Trudeau in a tweet of again dividing Canadians by “appointing someone who has made anti-Quebec, anti-Jewish and anti-police remarks” and called for him to “appoint someone who can unite all of us in the fight against racism and Islamophobia.”
Blacklock’s Reporter noted that in previous columns, Elghawaby called for Canada to sever ties with the monarchy because it’s racist, disarm police officers except for “special firearms-equipped teams”, described Canada Day as “dominant, European Judeo-Christian storytelling” and called for Muslim prayer rooms in schools.
They also indicate she’s a fan of Trudeau, while accusing former Conservative PM Stephen Harper of being anti-Muslim.
