Canada appoints first anti-Islamophobia adviser

Montréal:

Canada on Thursday appointed its first special envoy to combat Islamophobia, which was created after several recent attacks on Muslims in the country.

Journalist and activist Amira Elkhawabi will fill the position “to serve as an advocate, adviser, expert, and representative to support and promote the efforts of the federal government in the fight against Islamophobia, systemic racism, racial discrimination, and religious intolerance.” The minister’s office said.

Elkawabi, an active human rights activist, is head of communications for the Canadian Foundation for Race Relations and a columnist for the Toronto Star newspaper, and previously worked for public broadcaster CBC for more than a decade.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hailed Elkhawabi’s appointment as “an important step in our fight against Islamophobia and hatred in all its forms.”

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

In recent years, there have been a series of deadly attacks against the Muslim community in Canada.

In June 2021, in London, Ontario, four members of a Muslim family were killed when a man ran over them with his truck.

Four years ago, six Muslims were killed and five wounded in an attack on a Quebec City mosque.

In a series of tweets on Thursday, Elkhawabi listed the names of those killed in the latest attacks: “We must never forget.”

The new job creation was suggested by a national summit on Islamophobia organized by the federal government in June 2021 in response to the attacks.

(Other than the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and was published from a syndicated feed.)