Anti-Islamophobia representative Amira Elghawaby apologizes for past comments about Quebecers

The federal government's new anti-Islamophobia rep‐ resentative Amira El‐ ghawaby apologized Wednesday for past re‐ marks about the preva‐ lence of anti-Islam senti‐ ment in Quebec.

Elghawaby, who was ap‐ pointed the special represen‐ tative on combating Islamo‐ phobia last week, made the remarks before meeting with Bloc Quebecois Leader YvesFrancois Blanchet, who had requested the meeting to push back against her 2019 remarks.

"I would like to say that I am extremely sorry for the way that my words have car‐ ried, how I have hurt the peo‐ ple of Quebec, and this is what I am going to express to Mr. Blanchet," she said.

"I understand that the words and the way that I said them have hurt the people of Quebec. I have been listening very carefully. I have heard you and I know what you're feeling and I'm sorry."

The controversy is linked to an opinion column Elghawaby co-authored with Bernie Farber, the former CEO of the Canadian Jewish Con‐ gress, that appeared in the

Ottawa Citizen in 2019.

WATCH: Elghawaby apol‐ ogizes

The column comments on Quebec's controversial Bill 21, which bans provincial public servants from wearing reli‐ gious symbols such as hijabs.

"Unfortunately, the majori‐ ty of Quebecers appear to be swayed not by the rule of law, but by anti-Muslim senti‐ ment," Elghawaby and Farber wrote.

In the column, Elghawaby and Farber said that they came to that conclusion after a Léger Marketing poll found that the 88 per cent of Quebe‐ cers who held negative views of Islam overwhelmingly sup‐ ported the ban on religious symbols for public servants.

"I believe she does not know Quebec. She does not know our history and I will be pleased as a citizen, as a party leader and as an anthropolo‐ gist, to discuss Quebec histo‐ ry with her," Blanchet said Wednesday morning.

Calls for Elghawaby's res‐ ignation

Jean-François Roberge, Quebec's minister responsible for the French language, said earlier this week that El‐ ghawaby "seems to be over‐ come by an anti-Quebec sen‐ timent."

"All she did was try to justi‐ fy her hateful comments," he said. "That doesn't fly. She must resign and if she doesn't, the government must remove her immediate‐ ly."

After hearing her apolo‐ gy, Roberge said that El‐ ghawaby was trying to ex‐ plain her remarks just days earlier.

"I'm glad that she apolo‐ gized but she still has to re‐ sign," he said.

Earlier Wednesday, as he went into a caucus meet‐ ing, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre doubled down on his call for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to remove El‐ ghawaby from her new posi‐ tion.

Speaking in French, Poilievre said that he backed the effort to combat Islamo‐ phobia but accused Trudeau of choosing someone who has insulted Quebecers.

Speaking before Elghawa‐ by's apology Wednesday, Trudeau said that Quebecers' opinions on religious symbols are informed by the province's history of living un‐ der "an oppressive church," not by racism.

"Quebecers are not racists," Trudeau said. "Que‐ becers are among the people who are the strongest de‐ fenders of individual rights and freedoms, along with a lot of other Canadians."

Trudeau said Elghawaby is qualified for the job of reach‐ ing out to both secular and religious Quebecers.

After the meeting, El‐ ghawaby called her conversa‐ tion with Blanchet a "con‐ structive" discussion and an "opportunity to hear each other."

Elghawaby said that as a Muslim, she understands what it means to be judged and to be treated with bias. She said she apologized to Blanchet again in private.

"I want to bring people to‐ gether. I want people to listen and Mr. Blanchet has demon‐ strated that he does too, and he had a very good discussion and [we] are looking forward to more opportunities for dia‐ logue," she said.