(Quebec) The Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) sent contradictory messages on Monday concerning the controversial appointment of Amira Elghawaby as the new federal representative for the fight against Islamophobia.
First, the Liberal MP for the riding of Westmount–Saint-Louis, Jennifer Maccarone, lambasted the Legault government, which is calling for his resignation. Mme Elghawaby has written in the past that the “majority of Quebecers” seem “influenced by anti-Muslim sentiment.”
“After Bill 21 and its refusal to recognize systemic racism, the CAQ once again demonstrates an unspeakable rigidity and a lack of humanity by not supporting the appointment of Mr.me Elghawaby. Quebecers want to build bridges and not divide themselves, ”wrote the official opposition spokesperson for the fight against racism on Twitter. His post has since been deleted.
A little later on Twitter, the interim leader of the Liberal Party, Marc Tanguay, corrected the situation. According to him, the remarks made by Mr.me Elghawaby are “unacceptable and insulting”.
“Mme Elghawaby must apologize for his unacceptable and insulting comments. We will judge the sincerity of his approach,” he said.
Earlier today, the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, confirmed that Amira Elghawaby will remain in office despite the controversy. Last week, in an interview with The Pressthe latter had claimed that her column published in the ottawa citizen had been misunderstood.
“I want to be very clear. I do not believe that the vast majority of Quebecers are Islamophobic,” she said. The federal representative against Islamophobia then explained that she had relied in her column on a Léger poll which stated that 88% of Quebeckers who supported Bill 21 had a negative perception of Islam.
In Quebec, the Parti Québécois said Monday that Mr. Trudeau must be held responsible for the crisis surrounding the appointment of this new representative in the fight against Islamophobia.
“We question a lot the decision of the one who put it in place, that is to say Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Had he done due diligence, to know what were the inflammatory statements she had made, including in texts published in certain English Canadian media and which tend to show that her anti-Quebec prejudices are quite deeply rooted? “Questioned PQ MP Joël Arseneau.
The parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, for his part affirmed that he wanted additional explanations from Mr.me Elghawaby.
“She has to explain herself because her role is important. The fight against Islamophobia and hatred is important. We have to move forward in Quebec on this issue and we have to do it without pointing fingers, ”he said.