Quebec once again demands Amira Elghawaby's resignation

Photo: Francis Vachon Le Devoir “Amira Elghawaby needs to mind her own business. We're talking about the same person who has insulted Quebecers on several occasions. She has no legitimacy to ask our colleges and universities what to do,” Minister Pascale Déry posted on X.

Caroline Plante – The Canadian Press in Quebec City

Published at 11:37 a.m. Updated at 6:33 p.m.

• Quebec City

Quebec is once again calling for the departure of Canada’s special representative for combating Islamophobia, Amira Elghawaby.

The latter sent a letter to colleges and universities on August 30, recommending that they increase the number of Muslim, Palestinian and Arab professors.

She claims that since the start of the Gaza conflict, many higher education institutions “have not done a good job.” “Physical attacks on campus, racial profiling and online smear campaigns … have contributed to a dangerous climate,” she laments in her letter. “College and university campuses must remain places where dialogue is encouraged, where everyone feels safe to express their point of view,” she continued.

She recommends that school leaders be counseled “on civil liberties, Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism.”

Elghawaby also recommends training the “university community as a whole on anti-Palestinian racism, anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia.”

“She must resign”

On Friday, Quebec’s Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, expressed outrage on the social network X. “Amira Elghawaby must mind her own business,” she declared.

1/3 Amira Elghawaby needs to mind her own business. We're talking about the same person who has insulted Quebecers on several occasions. She has no legitimacy to ask our colleges and universities what to do. We repeat: she needs to resign. https://t.co/X0GggmECGN

— Pascale Déry (@PascaleDery) September 13, 2024

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“The simple fact of suggesting the hiring of professors on the basis of religion goes against the principles of secularism, but also the criteria linked to excellence in our establishments. »

Her colleague at Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette, added to the story in the afternoon on X, stating that Amira Elghawaby “makes unacceptable and discriminatory remarks” and that she “harms living together in society.”

He also called for the resignation of Canada’s special representative responsible for combating Islamophobia.

According to Ms. Déry, Amira Elghawaby has already insulted Quebecers “on several occasions.” In 2019, she stated that they seemed influenced by “anti-Muslim sentiment.”

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“She has no legitimacy [to tell] our colleges and universities what to do. We reiterate: she must resign,” insisted the Minister of Higher Education.

“Hiring professors based on their faith, in a secular state, is unthinkable,” added her colleague, the Minister responsible for Canadian Relations, Jean-François Roberge.

For their part, the Parti Québécois of Paul St-Pierre Plamondon and the Bloc Québécois of Yves-François Blanchet have again called for the pure and simple abolition of Ms. Elghawaby’s position.

Encourage dialogue

Amira Elghawaby, a former journalist and human rights activist, was appointed by Justin Trudeau’s federal Liberal government in January 2023.

From Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, where he held a joint press conference with Quebec Premier François Legault, Trudeau said that “obviously, each university will make its own choices.”

He explained that “Ms. Elghawaby is someone who does independent work, who makes recommendations and, above all, who tries to encourage dialogue between different groups.”

“I think we are experiencing [a] rising tension. “As Canadians, we must and we can have all kinds of conversations that will bring us closer together,” added Mr. Trudeau.

At her side, Mr. Legault said he found Ms. Elghawaby’s incursion into the areas of jurisdiction of Quebec and its CEGEPs and universities “totally unacceptable.”

“I find it unacceptable that someone would suggest favouring a religious group when we are in a secular state,” declared Mr. Legault.

Canadian Heritage indicated Friday that Ms. Elghawaby was not available to answer journalists’ questions.

With Le Devoir