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Amira Elghawaby

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Amira Elghawaby is a Canadian journalist, communications professional, and human rights activist. She was appointed as Canada's first special representative on combatting Islamophobia in January 2023.

Early life and education

Elghawaby was born to Egyptian parents; her father was an engineer.[1]

She emigrated to Canada at the age of two months with her mother, and also spent four of her early years in Bandung, Indonesia.[1]

Elghawaby has a degree in journalism and law from Carleton University.[2][3]

Career

Elghawaby is a human rights activist and a journalist.[2] She is employed as a communications lead by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation,[2] and is a freelance journalist who contributes columns to the The Toronto Star.[2] She previously worked at CBC News, the Canadian labour movement,[2] and as a human rights co-ordinator[4] for the National Council of Canadian Muslims.[5][6] She was one of the founding board members of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network[7] and is a member of Canada's National Security Transparency Advisory Group.[8]

On January 26, 2023,[7] Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Elghawaby as Canada's first special representative on combatting Islamophobia, for a four-year term.[2] Her office has a budget of $5.6 million to cover the first five years of activities.[2]

The National Council of Canadian Muslims described her appointment as a "historic moment for Muslims in Canada”.[7] Days after her appointment Quebec Premier François Legault called for her resignation,[9] after La Presse reported that Elghawaby had written that Quebeckers seem “influenced by anti-Muslim sentiment,” in a 2019 column in the Ottawa Citizen and other publications, most notably a tweet of May 2021, when she wrote « I will puke » on Twitter in reaction to a opinion editorial by Joseph Heath, a philosophy teacher of the University of Toronto, who argued that French Canadians were the larger group in Canada to have suffer from British colonialism.[10]

Trudeau said he expected her comments to be clarified,[11][12] but later reaffirmed that he stands by her appointment.[13] On February 1, 2023, Amira Elghawaby apologized for her comments about how her words in the past have hurt the people of Quebec. She expressed that has been listening to Quebecers.[14]

A parliamentary motion in the National Assembly of Quebec denouncing her appointment was supported by the Coalition Avenir Québec, Quebec Liberal Party and the Parti Québécois.[15]

On February 3, 2023, a letter in support of her appointment was published by a group of 30 prominent leaders in Quebec. Signatories included human rights lawyer Julius Grey, Quebec City Mosque co-founder Boufeldja Benabdallah, and Charles Taylor, professor emeritus at McGill University. The letter aknowledged the preir concern, but advocated for Elghawaby to be allowed to do her task.[16] [17] On February5, 2023 a second group letter with 200 signatories including Nadia El-Mabrouk, president of the "People for laicity" and activist Ensaf Haidar, called for Elghawaby's resignation and the abolition of her office, signatories refused " to be associated to a Muslim community represented by people who promote a fundamentalist vision of Islam".[18] On February 14, 2023, former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi raised concerns about Islamophobia in Canada before the Senate Committee on Human Rights and urged parliamentarians to stand up for Elghawaby.[19]

Rania Lawendy CEO of Action for Humanity Canada, commenting on the letters said that "the Canadian political landscape is not a safe place for a visible Muslim woman, and this incident is a perfect example of how discrimination continues to be tolerated by our government leaders."[20]

Personal life

Elghawaby lives in Ottawa.[21] She is married with three children.[1] She is Muslim.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Muslim In Canada - Amira Elghawaby". Muslim In Canada. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Zimonjic, Peter (26 Jan 2023). "Trudeau announces Amira Elghawaby as Canada's first representative to combat Islamophobia". CBC.
  3. ^ "Amira Elghawaby". Prime Minister of Canada. 2023-01-25. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  4. ^ Rakobowchuk, By Peter (2015-03-13). "Woman in hijab controversy rejects $52,000 crowdfunding cash". CTV News. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  5. ^ "The People Do Good Stuff Issue: Amira Elghawaby". This Magazine. 2016-01-13. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  6. ^ "Ottawa police alert Muslim women after reports of verbal abuse". CBC. 16 Oct 2016.
  7. ^ a b c "Canada appoints first representative to fight Islamophobia". www.aljazeera.com. 26 Jan 2023. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  8. ^ Patel, Raisa (2023-01-26). "Canada names first special representative to combat Islamophobia". thestar.com. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  9. ^ "CAQ government wants federal anti-Islamophobia adviser removed over Bill 21 comments". montrealgazette. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  10. ^ 200 personnes réclament l’abolition du poste d’Amira Elghawaby
  11. ^ Bailey, Ian (2023-01-27). "Politics Briefing: Trudeau wants Amira Elghawaby to clarify remarks about Quebeckers". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  12. ^ "Trudeau nomme une militante qui a dépeint les Québécois comme " antimusulmans "". La Presse (in French). 2023-01-26. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  13. ^ Watts, Rachel (Jan 30, 2023). "Justin Trudeau stands by appointee Amira Elghawaby, says she will continue fight against Islamophobia". CBC News. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  14. ^ Zimonjic, Peter (Feb 01, 2023). "Anti-Islamophobia representative Amira Elghawaby apologizes for past comments about Quebecers". CBC News. Retrieved Feb 16, 2023. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "Quebec MNAs call for dismissal of anti-Islamophobia advisor". Montreal. 2023-01-31. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  16. ^ Nerestant, Antoni (Feb 03, 2023). "Quebec lawyers, activists throw support behind Amira Elghawaby as pressure for resignation mounts". CBC News. Retrieved Feb 16, 2023. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/prominent-quebecers-plead-for-federal-anti-islamophobia-rep-to-be-given-a-chance-1.6258915
  18. ^ Plus de 200 personnes exigent le départ d’Amira Elghawaby et l’abolition de son poste
  19. ^ Zapata, Karina (Feb 14, 2023). "Former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi urges politicians to stand up for Amira Elghawaby". CBC News. Retrieved Feb 16, 2023.
  20. ^ Lawendy, Rania (Feb 08, 2023). "Amira Elghawaby 'is not embattled'". National Post. Retrieved Feb 16, 2023. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ Lau, Rachel (20 Dec 2017). "'He's a Canadian hero': Muslim community raises money for paralyzed mosque shooting victim | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2023-01-27.


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