The Quebec legislature is calling for the removal of the Trudeau Liberal government’s new anti-Islamophobia representative over her controversial past remarks.
The Quebec National Assembly passed a motion on Tuesday, saying Amira Elghawaby – the newly appointed Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia – is not appropriate for public office.
“I think Justin Trudeau made the wrong decision,” said assembly member Jean-Francois Roberge.
The assembly pointed to an op-ed written by Elghawaby, in which she said the majority of Quebecers are swayed by anti-Muslim sentiment.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault previously said he could not believe that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was still supporting her.
Former federal NDP leader Tom Mulcair wrote in a Postmedia op-ed that Elghawaby can’t stay in the post. “When your job is fighting prejudice and you’ve made statements in the past that sound like a reflection of your own prejudice, you withdraw them and, ideally apologize,” Mulcair wrote. “You don’t dig in, or try to explain them away.”
Elghawaby was previously a Toronto Star columnist, worked for the National Council of Canadian Muslims and was a founding member of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network.
Canada has never had an anti-Islamophobia representative – but the job has clear priorities, according to Elghawaby.
Last week, she told Politico she will advocate for strong laws around online content that harms people.
“If we don’t get a handle on the hate, the misinformation that’s fueling a lot of extremist views […] then it’s almost two steps forward, three steps back,” Elghawaby said of the need for more laws governing the Internet.
