Justice Minister Arif Virani says incoming human rights commissioner Birju Dattani has “agreed to take leave” just one day ahead of his anticipated start date at the Canadian Human Rights Commission while Virani assesses the results of an independent review of the appointment.
Virani commissioned the probe into Dattani’s past conduct in June after Canadian Jewish organizations raised concerns about now-deleted social media posts he made under an alias when he was a graduate student in London. Also at issue was a panel appearance he made around the same time with a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, a group known for its Islamic fundamentalist ideology.