Québec has a “fixation on religious minorities” while Black Muslim women live in fear “out West,” cabinet’s inclusion advisor said in public remarks last spring. Amira Elghawaby, the $191,000-a year Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia, said she herself was targeted by a truck driver in her Ottawa neighbourhood..“In Québec, I think it’s really important that we highlight that this fixation on religious minorities in that province and specifically that disproportionate impact on visibly Muslim women creates the idea there is something wrong with women like myself who wear the head scarf,” Elghawaby testified last June 20 at the Senate human rights committee, according to Blacklock's Reporter..“There is almost a justification when we are being attacked and discriminated against, whether it is through harassment, attacks and such,” said Elghawaby. “We know out West in Edmonton and Calgary, there was a spate of attacks on Black Muslim women there,” she added. “That was creating a lot of anxiety and fear rippling through these communities.”.Elghawaby in 2021 testimony at the Commons committee on the status of women said she personally was targeted by a motorist in Orléans, ON, an Ottawa suburb with one of the largest French-speaking populations west of Québec. A third of Orleans residents identify French as their first language, according to Census data..“I will actually share my own personal experiences with the committee,” said Elghawaby. “Several incidents throughout my lifetime of wearing the hijab in Canada have really brought home to me how fraught it can sometimes be to wear visible Muslim clothing.”.“In my own neighbourhood here in Ottawa, in Orléans, I too was almost hit by a truck that was deliberately and very dangerously swerving toward me while the driver was yelling obscenities at me,” she said. “I have repeatedly been harassed and yelled at.”.Elghawaby on January 25 was appointed an advisor to cabinet on a four-year contract. “She will help advance respect for equity, inclusion and diversity,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, QC) said at the time..Elghawaby as a freelance columnist published numerous commentaries in the Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, Globe & Mail and National Post over a six-year period. Elghawaby in her writings advocated for Muslim prayer in public schools, called Québec a “bully” on minority rights, described Stephen Harper as more hurtful to Muslims than 9/11, called the Queen a racist symbol of oppression and dismissed Canada Day observances as “European, Judeo-Christian storytelling.”.“I support Ms. Elghawaby 100%” the prime minister told reporters. “She has demonstrated throughout her years of work a sensitivity, an openness.”.Transport Minister Omar Alghabra yesterday said criticism of Elghawaby appeared political. “It’s meant to advance political interests,” he said..“Do you think she’s being targeted because she is a Muslim public figure?” asked a reporter. “You know, I think there’s two types of criticisms that are coming at her,” replied Alghabra. “Some of it could be out of genuine interest and understanding what she said and why she said what she said. I think some of it is purely political.”
