Blanchet Calls on Anti-Islamophobia Rep to Resign After Meeting With Her

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet speaks with reporters in Ottawa on Oct. 26, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

Bloc Québécois Party Leader Yves-François Blanchet is calling for the federal government’s recently appointed Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia to step down after meeting with her on Feb. 1.

“I think she is still hostile to the notion of a secular state. She still has biases to deal with regarding the Québécois nation,” Blanchet said today in French while speaking to reporters in Ottawa.

Amira Elghawaby, whom Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed in late January as the government’s first-ever anti-Islamophobia representative, co-wrote an opinion article in 2019 that linked Quebec’s Bill 21 to “anti-Muslim sentiment.”

Bill 21 banned certain government employees in the province from wearing religious symbols at work.

Elghawaby apologized for her previous comments on Feb. 1, saying she understands “what it’s like to be stereotyped.”

“I have been listening very carefully. I have heard you, and I know what you are feeling and I am sorry,” Elghawaby told reporters before meeting with Blanchet.

Blanchet said that Elghawaby admitted to him “frankly and candidly” during their meeting “that she actually did not know much or very little about Quebec history.”

He added that her previous comments on anti-Muslim sentiment “does not qualify her [to be] this bridge between not only Quebec but anybody who is not Muslim,” because there are “tensions in these issues.”

“And because there’s [sic] been fingers pointed at Quebec and at Bill 21, and there’s been association between Bill 21 and Islamophobia,” he said.

The Bloc Leader said that all of these issues put together “disqualify” Elghawaby, in his eyes, for her role as the anti-Islamophobia representative.

He added that Trudeau’s decision to appoint Elghawaby was “a bad choice” that “destroyed the possible credibility” of her function, and that the position itself should be abolished.

Apologies

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa on Jan. 30 that he continues to support Elghawaby in her new role, but added a day later that he was “completely not in agreement” with some of her past statements.

“We were aware of some of her comments, but for sure others are coming out now,” he said in French on Feb. 1, adding, “I don’t want to go over [the comments] line by line.”

Justice Minister David Lametti was also asked by reporters to comment on Elghawaby’s recent apology and whether or not he thinks it came too late.

“I’ve said everything really that I want to say with respect to that issue,” Lametti said on Feb. 2. “I raised concerns. She apologized.”

“I am not going to assess the adequacy of those apologies. That’s up to her.”

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.