Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, QC) yesterday rejected demands that he withdraw the appointment of his “inclusion” advisor for her hurtful comments. One cabinet minister described remarks by Amira Elghawaby as “really inappropriate.”.“She is there to speak for the community, with the community, and build bridges,” Trudeau told reporters. “She has thought carefully over many years about the impacts that various pieces of legislation and various political positions have had on the community. Her job now is to make sure she’s helping the government.”.According to Blacklock's Reporter, Elghawaby last Thursday was appointed Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia at an undisclosed salary. “She will help advance respect for equity, inclusion and diversity,” said Trudeau..The Québec cabinet yesterday demanded Elghawaby be fired over columns previously published in the Globe & Mail and Ottawa Citizen. Elghawaby described Québec residents as anti-Muslim and said the province is a “bully” that was “out to gain votes off the backs of vulnerable minorities.”.“Obviously the prime minister checked the comments and positions prior to this appointment,” Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet (Beloeil—Chambly, QC) yesterday told the House of Commons. “Many will interpret them as very insulting to Québec. Does the prime minister really consider this appointment is likely to bring people together and build bridges?”.Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre (Carleton, ON) said Elghawaby’s newspaper columns disqualified her as an “inclusion” advisor. “These comments are unacceptable and divisive,” Poilievre said in a statement. “It is incredible that, knowing this person had made these comments, Justin Trudeau would nevertheless name her to a position.”.“We should fight all forms of discrimination by bringing people together, not tearing them apart,” said Poilievre. “Instead of ‘divide and conquer’ as Trudeau always does, we should unite.”.Elghawaby in a series of columns published over a five-year period in the Globe, Citizen, National Post and Toronto Star advocated disarming police, deposing the Queen as a “racist” head of state, cancelling Canada Day as “European, Judeo-Christian storytelling,” and permitting Muslim prayer in public schools..“The comments she has made in the past are really inappropriate,” Sport Minister Pascale St-Onge (Brome-Missisquoi, QC) yesterday told reporters. “It is deplorable that her mandate begins in this way. The role was really to unite communities.”.Elghawaby described elements of the Conservative Party as “xenophobic” and “peddling in hatred and division” but credited the Liberal Party with enshrining the Charter Of Rights And Freedoms. In a Nov. 15, 2016 Ottawa Citizen column she described the “rapt faces” of her children as they watched Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speak at a We Charity rally..“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.”
