Canada names first anti-Islamophobia adviser

MONTREAL: Canada on Thursday appointed its first special representative on combatting Islamophobia, a position created following several recent attacks on Muslims in the country.

Journalist and activist Amira Elghawaby will fill the post to “serve as a champion, adviser, expert and representative to support and enhance the federal government´s efforts in the fight against Islamophobia, systemic racism, racial discrimination and religious intolerance,” a statement by the prime minister´s office said.

An active human rights campaigner, Elghawaby is the communications head for the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and a columnist for the Toronto Star newspaper, having previously worked for more than a decade at public broadcaster CBC.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau praised Elghawaby´s appointment as “an important step in our fight against Islamophobia and hatred in all its forms.” “Diversity truly is one of Canada´s greatest strengths, but for many Muslims, Islamophobia is all too familiar,” he added.

Over the past few years, a series of deadly attacks have targeted Canada´s Muslim community. In June 2021, four members of a Muslim family were killed when a man ran them over with his truck in London, Ontario.

Four years earlier, six Muslims died and five were injured in an attack on a Quebec City mosque. In a series of tweets Thursday, Elghawaby listed the names of those killed in the recent attacks, adding: “We must never forget.” The creation of the new job had been recommended by a national summit on Islamophobia organized by the federal government in June 2021 in response to the attacks.