The outrage caused by Amira Elghawaby\u0027s remarks about Quebec should have been foreseen
As should have been expected, such a search is exactly what journalists did in the minutes following the prime minister’s announcement. What did they find? That in an, of which she was the co-author, she wrote that “the majority of Quebecers appear to be swayed not by the rule of law, but by anti-Muslim sentiment.
This unfortunate controversy was entirely predictable. Are Amira Elghawaby’s credentials so impressive that, despite some of her writings, appointing her was a good decision? At the very least, the government and the new special representative needed to prepare for the uproar and quickly provide both a clarification and an apology. This was not done until
, a week after Elghawaby’s appointment. With the speed of today’s news cycle, one week is an eternity. In Québec, her credibility lays in ruins.I had the privilege of sitting in the Senate for three and a half years. I enjoyed nothing more than having the opportunity to work with senators representing different regions, cultures and races, coming from all walks of life.
Too often, we Canadians forget how essential it is to listen and to compromise . It is so easy to fall back on one’s prejudiced views of the other. Some politicians do this because, in the short run, it may appear politically profitable. Activists also tend to eschew moderate views because this is not how you motivate people to fight for the cause.
Any person who has followed the intense and painful debate in Québec about Bill 21 knows that the level of support for the measure cannot be easily explained by “an anti-Muslim sentiment.” Supporters of the law come from all political horizons and their motives are diverse. There are some for whom, based on Quebec’s experience with Catholicism, all religions are oppressive and should be absent from the public sphere.
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