Canada appoints human rights campaigner and journalist as first anti-Islamophobia advisor

Canada on Thursday announced the appointment of its first special representative on combatting Islamophobia. The position was created following recent attacks on Muslims in the country.

Journalist and an active human rights campaigner Amira Elghawaby has been chosen for the position. She will "serve as a champion, advisor, 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.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau praised Elghawaby's appointment as "an important step in our fight against Islamophobia and hatred in all its forms."

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"Diversity truly is one of Canada’s greatest strengths, but for many Muslims, Islamophobia is all too familiar," he added.

She is the communications head for the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and a columnist for the Toronto Star newspaper. She also worked for more than a decade at public broadcaster CBC.

Canada's Muslim community has endured a seriesof deadly attacks in the past few years.

In June 2021, a man killed four members of a Muslim family by running 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.

Elghawaby, in a series of tweets Thursday, 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.

(With inputs from agencies)

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