Government funding has been cut for an anti-racism project due to “objectionable and hateful” Twitter posts by a senior consultant, Diversity Minister Ahmed Hussen has said.
On Twitter, the minister says the government has notified the Community Media Advocacy Center (CMAC) that its project has been suspended.
Update from the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion on the Community Media Advocacy Center project pic.twitter.com/LLWlnU2rOe
— Ahmed Hussen (@HonAhmedHussen) August 22, 2022
He asks the organization to “respond on how they hired Laith Marouf and how they plan to rectify the situation given the nature of his anti-Semitic and xenophobic comments”.
The move follows an article by The Canadian Press about Twitter posts by Laith Marouf, a senior consultant on the project to develop an anti-racism strategy for Canadian broadcasting.
A screenshot of one of Mr. Marouf’s Twitter posts reads: “You know all those loud shit filled voices aka Jewish white supremacists; when we liberate Palestine and they have to go back to where they came from, they will again be whispered bitches of their Christian/secular white supremacist masters. »
The anti-racism project received $133,000 from the ministry. Last week, Mr. Hussen had asked Canadian Heritage to “look closely at the situation”.
In his press release published on Monday, Minister Hussen recalls that “anti-Semitism has no place in this country”.
“We look forward to an appropriate response on their next steps and clear accountability in this regard,” Hussen added.
The center project received funding from the Department of Heritage’s Anti-Racism Action Program and the Minister for Diversity was quoted alongside Mr Marouf in a press release about its launch in April.
Mr. Marouf declined to comment on the situation, but his lawyer Stephen Ellis made a distinction between his client’s posts about people he calls “Jewish white supremacists” and Jews in general. According to his lawyer, Mr. Marouf has no animosity towards the Jewish faith as a collective group.
“While they are not expressed with much elegance, these tweets reflect a frustration with the reality of Israeli apartheid and a Canadian government that collaborates with it”, justified Me Ellis, Monday.
“Apartheid is a crime against humanity under international law, and no Zionist rhetoric can hide this fundamental fact. Canada should be ashamed. »
The CMAC, which describes itself as a non-profit organization supporting self-determination in the media, did not respond to requests for comment from The Canadian Press.
Canadian Heritage funding for the CMAC’s anti-racism project had been approved before Hussen became diversity minister last fall, according to his cabinet.
Arevig Afarian, a spokeswoman for Minister Hussen, said Monday that “this problem should have been identified at the outset, even before funding was approved.”
“Minister Hussen inquired with the Department of Canadian Heritage to understand how this could have happened. He will look for immediate solutions to ensure that requests for funding are examined correctly, including with regard to the people who work or collaborate with the applicants, ”she said.