Quebec's Legault government wants federal anti-Islamophobia adviser removed over Bill 21 comments

Quebec’s minister responsible for Canadian relations on Monday called for the removal from office of the Trudeau government’s first special representative on combating Islamophobia on the grounds of “odious” statements she made about Quebec.

“In the name of the government, I asked her to withdraw her comments and apologize. However, she has only tried to justify her odious comments,” Jean-François Roberge said in a written statement, referring to Amira Elghawaby. “This will not do. She must resign and if she does not do so, the government should remove her without delay.”

Roberge’s call for Elghawaby’s dismissal follows comments she made in a 2019 opinion piece in the Ottawa Citizen about Bill 21, where she said Quebecers seem to be “influenced” by anti-Muslim sentiment.

On Friday, federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called for Elghawaby’s removal for having made “anti-Quebec, anti-Jewish and anti-police” remarks.

Also on Friday, Liberal MP Pablo Rodgriguez, Trudeau’s Quebec lieutenant, told Radio-Canada that he was “hurt” and “deeply insulted” by Elghawaby’s comments and called on her to withdraw them.

Elghawaby on Friday took to social media to clarify her remarks, saying that she did not believe Quebecers were Islamophobes and that she had been referring to the findings of a poll conducted on Bill 21, the provincial law that forbids some civil servants from wearing religious symbols while on duty.

Elghawaby attended the memorial service on Sunday commemorating the deadly attack six years ago on a mosque in Quebec City.

Speaking outside the event, Québec solidaire MNA Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois firmly condemned Elghawaby’s comment.

“Put all Quebecers in the same basket, as Madame did, is not acceptable,” he said. “These are hurtful words for Quebecers. You have to fight Islamophobia in a unifying manner and that’s what I expect from the people named by various levels of government.”

Nadeau-Dubois did not take a position on whether Elghawaby should resign.

Parti Québécois MNA Joël Arseneau on Monday blamed Trudeau for causing the controversy by naming Elghawaby to the job. “Did he do his due diligence to find out the inflammatory statements that she had made, including texts published in certain media in English Canada and which tend to show that her anti-Quebec prejudices are quite deeply rooted?

“The responsibility for this fiasco must be borne by the prime minister. He has to explain this.”

Arsenau said Elghawaby’s comments exhibited a “misunderstanding” of Quebec society.

In an interview with 98.5 FM, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said Trudeau’s naming Elghawaby to the post displayed a lack of understanding and of consideration of Quebec.

Blanchet it would not have been possible for Trudeau to have checked Elghawaby’s background and missed her comments. “They knew what she had said. They decided with full knowledge of the facts to try it anyway.”

Despite describing her comments as “a string of insults” against Quebec, Blanchet did not call for Elghawaby’s resignation, but rather for a meeting with her to let her explain herself.

“I want her to explain to me that she’s here to build bridges, not to dig extra ditches,” he said, adding that Quebecers are “fed up” with being labelled as racists and Islamophobes.

During Sunday’s commemoration ceremony Trudeau noted the presence of Elghawaby, describing her a “friend to all Canadians.”

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