Toronto (Canada), 26 January. The Canadian government on Thursday named human rights activist journalist Amira Elghwabi as its first special representative to combat Islamophobia, an appointment that comes just days before the sixth anniversary of an attack on a mosque in the country that killed six people. were.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement that Elgawabi’s appointment as Special Representative to Combat Islamophobia was “an important step” in fighting all forms of hate.
“No one in our country should be subjected to hatred for their religious beliefs,” Trudeau said.
The Canadian government had already announced its intention to create an agency in June last year to tackle Islamophobia in the country.
Elghawaby will advise the government on policies and legislative projects, in addition to proposing programs and regulations to fight “Islamophobia, systemic racism, racial discrimination and religious intolerance”.
Elgawabi’s appointment comes three days before the sixth anniversary of the massacre at the Quebec Islamic Cultural Center mosque.
On January 29, 2017, Alexandre Bissonnette, a student of anthropology and political science at Laval University, “methodically and professionally” fired into people inside the mosque, killing six people and seriously injuring five others.
Following the massacre, the Canadian government took a number of measures to combat Islamophobia in Canada.
