Activist Amira Elghawaby, who advocated deposing the Queen as racist and opposed Canada Day as a celebration of “European, Judeo-Christian storytelling” yesterday was named Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia, according to Blacklock's Reporter..“I am looking forward to working with her,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement. Trudeau’s office did not reply when asked if Elghawaby’s political writings were reviewed as part of routine vetting for cabinet appointees..“She will help advance respect for equity, inclusion and diversity,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement. The Office said it was aware Elghawaby had worked for the Toronto Star, the CBC and Ottawa Citizen..Elghawaby called the monarchy “one of the most powerful symbols of racial oppression” in a March 13, 2021 Toronto Star column. “Its very existence and survival is built upon the oppression it benefited from throughout its shameful history,” wrote Elghawaby..“Remove the Queen as head of state, a necessary step that goes even beyond a rethink about the statues and monuments that dot our cities and towns and which represent historical figures who engaged in racist policies,” wrote Elghawaby. Eliminating the Queen as head of state would be difficult “though it would be worth it,” she said..Elghawaby in a June 30, 2021 Toronto Star column said Canada Day celebrations reflected “dominant, European, Judeo-Christian storytelling” and should lapse. “The narratives and histories interwoven about the founding of this country have for too long created a false sense of what it means to be Canadian, often far removed from painful realities and shrouded in mythmaking,” she wrote..Records also identify Elghawaby as guest speaker at a 2017 demonstration “against white supremacy and racism” outside the US Embassy in Ottawa. “Are You An Anti-Fascist?” the Toronto Star headlined a Jan. 13, 2021 column by Elghawaby. “Time to wake up,” she wrote. Elghawaby in other writings:.• advocated for disarming the police: “Why should we accept the premise that every police officer must carry a weapon?” (Star April 21, 2021);• called the Québec government a “bully” that “legitimized the violation of human rights” (Citizen October 20, 2017);• proposed federal censorship of legal internet content: “It’s clearly time for regulation. We cannot let perfection be the enemy of the good” (Star August 11, 2022)• said Conservatives “have some explaining to do” over Stephen Harper: “Harper made his last stand at the expense of Canadian Muslims” (Citizen October 14, 2016)..Elghawaby praised Trudeau as a “warm” person with a “message of hope” and in a November 15, 2016 Ottawa Citizen column recounted attending a We Charity rally with her daughters, “a dazzling display of song, light, dance and motivational speeches.”.“The crowd seemed eager to hear Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as he bounded up on the stage as part of a parade of Who’s Who sharing messages of inspiration,” wrote Elghawaby. “My daughters had previously heard Mr. Trudeau express his warm view of diversity and inclusion yet I could see on their rapt faces that his signature message of hope resonated that much more deeply, as did his mother’s subsequent tribute to his dad Pierre Trudeau for successfully enshrining the Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms.”
