After demanding a formal apology, Minister Jean-François Roberge is calling for the resignation of Canada’s special envoy for the fight against Islamophobia, Amira Elghawaby, over the “abhorrent” remarks she has made about Quebec residents in the past.
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In a column published in 2019, the activist and former journalist wrote that Quebec residents were “apparently influenced by anti-Muslim sentiment.” To clarify her comments, Ms. Elghawaby expressed that she “does not believe that Quebecers are Islamophobic,” but that she then referred to a poll concerning the state’s secularism law.
However, the Minister for Canadian Relations found these explanations unsatisfactory.
“On behalf of the government, I have asked him to retract his comments and apologize. However, she was only trying to justify her obnoxious remarks. It doesn’t go through. She must resign and if she doesn’t, the government must fire her immediately,” argued Jean-François Roberge in a written statement to QMI agency.
Deputy Prime Minister Geneviève Guilbault, who was called to comment in the margins of an announcement on a different issue, said Ms Elghawaby’s comments were “inappropriate” and “inappropriate”.
“It’s raunchy, that kind of talk. […] I was in the mosque last night […] I felt very welcome there. […] We are open, we warmly welcome you. We must not extrapolate isolated gestures (…) and we must not ignore the fact that Quebecers are systematically racist people (…) it is wrong.”
The CAQ “lacks humanity,” according to one Liberal
Westmount-Saint-Louis Liberal MP Jennifer Maccarone, on the contrary, believes the Legault government is “lacking humanity” in calling for the rights activist’s resignation.
“Following Bill 21 and its refusal to recognize systemic racism, the CAQ is once again demonstrating an indescribable rigidity and lack of humanity in not supporting the appointment of Ms Elghawaby. Quebecers want to build bridges, not divide…” she wrote on Twitter Monday morning.
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Trudeau is responsible, the PQ says. On the Parti Québécois side, we question the rigor of the process that led to Amira Elghawaby’s appointment and believe that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is responsible for the “current fiasco”.
“Did he do the due diligence to find out what the inflammatory statements she had made were? […] and which show that his anti-Quebec prejudices are quite ingrained?” PQ MP Joël Arseneau said in a press conference before the National Assembly on Monday morning.
I don’t think Quebecers are Islamophobic; My recent comments related to a Bill 21 survey. I will work with partners in each province and region to ensure we address racism head-on.
— Amira Elghawaby (@AmiraElghawaby) January 27, 2023
The Trudeau government has been in hot water since Mrs Elghawaby was appointed to her post last Thursday.
Canada’s Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre and Bloc Québécois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet have both condemned the appointment.
Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez had also asked Ms Elghawaby to retract her comments, saying he was “deeply hurt” as a Quebecer.
– With the collaboration of Marc-André Gagnon, Parliament Office