Celebrated philosopher Charles Taylor and civil-rights lawyer Julius Grey are among those showing support for Amira Elghawaby’s appointment
After an uproar in Quebec, thirty of the province’s civil-society leaders signed a statement on Friday supporting Amira Elghawaby’s appointment as Canada’s special representative on combatting Islamophobia.
“We are sensitive to the concerns that have been raised since her appointment,” reads the statement, “but the challenge before her is a considerable one and we believe that Ms. Elghawaby should be given the opportunity to assume and pursue the mandate for which she was appointed.” Signatories said in interviews with The Globe and Mail that the statement in her defence was not meant as an endorsement of her comments.
The controversial statements “irritate me incredibly,” said Charles Taylor, emeritus professor of philosophy at McGill University and former co-chair of a government commission on the “reasonable accommodation” of religious minorities. Nonetheless, Ms. Elghawaby should be given a chance to learn about the “misunderstandings” between English and French-speaking Canadians that lay behind her comments before being asked to resign, Prof. Taylor said.
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