Bringing a message of peace, anti-Islamophobia special envoy embarks on cross-Canada tour: Okezone News

CANADA – Anti Special Envoy Islamophobia Canada Amira Elghawaby said on Monday (3/20/2023) that she chose London, Ontario to embark on her first cross-Canada tour because of a family Muslim killed there as a result of a hate crime.

“Calls for a special office to combat Islamophobia have come from Muslim communities across Canada, but the loudest have come from the Muslim community in London,” Elghawaby said in an interview with CBC Radio, as quoted by Antara. .




“I knew I had to come to London,” he continued.

London is a city southwest of Toronto with a population of 404,000, which was the scene of a horrific crime on June 6, 2021, when a man driving a van intentionally ran over a Muslim family walking down the street Sunday (3/19/2023) night and left four dead and one injured.

Elghawaby, who was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in January, said he would seek laws on Islamophobia and discrimination wherever they were found.

He got off to a rocky start when it was discovered that he had co-authored an opinion piece in a newspaper challenging Quebec’s Bill 21, which prohibits most public servants from wearing religious symbols at work. The controversial law effectively bans the Islamic headscarf or head covering for women.

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He wrote that Act 21 showed that Quebecers were influenced by anti-Muslim sentiments.

For his writings, Elghawaby apologized, but Quebec politicians called for his removal just days after his appointment, but Trudeau refused and so he remains in office.

On Monday, he clarified his position on the Quebec constitution.

“UU 21 discriminates against those who wear visible religious symbols and has a disproportionate impact on Muslim women who wear headscarves,” he said.

“As I have said and will continue to say, this is discriminatory; this discriminates against certain members of Quebec society,” he continued.

During her stop in London, Elghawaby said Muslim women have been voicing their fears since the 2021 killings, when a van left the street and headed for the pavement to destroy a family.

“I’ve met Muslim women who said if they heard loud noises when they were walking down the street, they were scared,” she said.

Elghawaby said he will be visiting communities across Canada over the next few months.


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