A federal cabinet advisor personally approved a taxpayer-funded research assignment on pro-Palestine reports by a York University scholar who has publicly described Canada as a “racist settler colonial state,” according to Access To Information records.Emails show Amira Elghawaby, now the government’s Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia, thanked researcher Salmaan Khan for his work, calling it “critical.” Elghawaby met with Khan in person to approve the assignment but declined comment.Khan, in a 2017 essay for York University’s Islamophobia Research Hub, argued Canada’s multicultural policies legitimized a racist settler state. “Multiculturalism has always been premised on the relative inclusion of ‘strangers’ within the nation,” Khan wrote. He added that acceptance of cultural and ethnic minorities was contingent on “strict adherence to an overarching Europeanness and whiteness that remains at the core of Canadian identity.”The essay accused successive federal governments of using multiculturalism to preserve white privilege while masking ongoing racial oppression, colonialism and gender exploitation. .Khan also described Canada’s multicultural system as a “means of ‘rescuing whiteness’” while appearing tolerant.Records indicate multiple exchanges between Khan and Elghawaby. Before her 2023 cabinet appointment, Elghawaby wrote opinion columns echoing themes of colonialism and racism, including calls to remove the Queen as head of state, critique Canada Day as a celebration of “dominant European, Judeo-Christian storytelling,” and criticism of Israel.The emails and public commentary have raised questions about the government’s choice to fund research from scholars with publicly stated views labeling Canada as a colonial and racist state.
