In a striking reversal, the Mark Carney–led Liberal government announced it is abolishing the Office of the Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia, effectively terminating the role of its controversial head, Amira Elghawaby. The decision brings to an end a turbulent three-year experiment in identity-based governance that had drawn sustained criticism from civil libertarians, secularists, and national security analysts alike.
Elghawaby, a former employee of the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM)—an organization widely criticized for its ideological proximity to Muslim Brotherhood–aligned networks—had nearly a year remaining on her contract. The role carried an annual salary of $191,300, a staff of five, and a $5.4 million operating budget.
Predictably, Islamist-aligned advocacy groups reacted with fury. The NCCM said it was “deeply disappointed” by the decision, while the Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council (CMPAC) expressed “serious concern.”
Canadians should be free to critique each other’s belief systems and out-workings of the same, religious or atheist, without being hounded by taxpayer-financed bureaucrats about their views.
Elghawaby was named to the post in January 2023 following pressure from the likes of the NCCM by former prime minister Justin Trudeau. She also sits on the National Security Transparency Advisory Group, which advises Public Safety Canada on national security and intelligence transparency. It remains unclear whether her dismissal from the Islamophobia role will affect that appointment.
In the same announcement, the government confirmed it would also shutter the Office of the Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism. Both positions will be folded into a new Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion, the composition of which will be announced later. Canadian Identity and Culture Minister Marc Miller insisted the move was not driven by austerity.
Controversial start
From the outset, Elghawaby’s appointment was mired in controversy.
Quebec’s major political parties rejected her nomination because of her strong opposition to Bill 21, the province’s secularism law prohibiting public officials in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols at work, in a 2019 opinion piece that she had co-authored. In that piece, Elghawaby also accused Quebecers of being motivated by “anti-Muslim sentiment,” citing polling data showing widespread support for Bill 21 among those with negative views of Islam. She later walked back the claim on social media, insisting she did not believe “Quebecers are Islamophobic.”
Further backlash followed an open letter signed by over 200 Quebec academics, authors, and secular activists. They pointed to a 2020 column in which Elghawaby equated the publication of Charlie Hebdo cartoons with racism. “Does Canada want to promote a woman who so blatantly conflates freedom of expression with racist remarks?” the letter asked. Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine, was targeted by Islamist terrorists in 2015 for publishing caricatures of Muhammad, leaving 12 people dead.
In a 2021 article, she dismissed Canada Day as a celebration of “Judeo-Christian storytelling.” She argued for Muslim prayer rooms in public schools and claimed former prime minister Stephen Harper had done more damage to the image of Canadian Muslims than al-Qaeda’s September 11 attacks.
Most troubling, however, has been her apparent willingness to blur the line between anti-Muslim bigotry and legitimate concern—expressed by secular Muslims and security agencies alike—about the influence of Islamist actors within Canada’s Muslim leadership. For years, the Liberal government relied on the dubious claim of “Islamophobia” to sidestep those concerns.
Abuse of office?
Elghawaby’s dismissal followed a series of Access to Information disclosures revealing she had allegedly used her office to advance political and ideological causes.
In remarks delivered in 2024 at a private meeting of the Muslim Federal Employees Network (MFEN), Elghawaby criticized workplace consequences faced by public servants who made pro-Palestinian statements, adding that her office was “tracking” disciplinary cases arising from peaceful protest activity.
She also intervened directly with government managers, urging them to establish Muslim prayer rooms in federal buildings. In a 2024 communication, she wrote that “Islamophobia in the workplace” could include difficulties accessing religious accommodations such as prayer breaks, Ramadan fasting, or dress requirements.
Elghawaby even lobbied ministers and senior national security and intelligence officials to prioritize combating “Islamophobia.”
A strategic planning document from her office went further, proposing taxpayer funding for MFEN, official recognition of Islamic holidays, the inclusion of religious identity language in job postings, and legislative changes to employment equity frameworks.
Further disclosures showed that Elghawaby had secretly authorized $80,000 in taxpayer funding for pro-Palestinian research at York University, despite publicly denying having done so.
In a 2024 federally funded report on “Islamophobia,” Elghawaby’s office redefined “jihad” as an inner spiritual “struggle” and dismissed concerns about Islamist violence as right-wing conspiracy theories.
Cautious optimism
Mark Milke, founder and president of the Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy, cautiously welcomed the government’s decision. “I’m glad to see a journalist-activist—which is what Ms. Elghawaby’s skillset was—is no longer receiving taxpayer funds to promote a radical, illiberal view of how Canadians should think, i.e., that any critique of Islamic fundamentalism, is wrongly equated with hatred of Muslims,” he told Focus on Western Islamism. “We shall see if the new government body is any improvement though. The core issue is that Canadians should be free to critique each other’s belief systems and out-workings of the same, religious or atheist, without being hounded by taxpayer-financed bureaucrats about their views.”
Collin May, a lawyer and former chief of the Alberta Human Rights Commission, struck a similar note. “While I support steps by the federal government to eliminate divisive identity-based offices like the Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia, I have serious doubts about replacing a role like the Special Envoy for Combatting Antisemitism with a single overarching Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion,” May said.
“We need to address the fact that it is specifically antisemitic hate directed at Jews that has reached crisis proportions in Canada,” May added. “Folding this into a generic council could dilute efforts to combat antisemitism while emboldening groups that use false allegations of racism to justify their hostility towards the Jewish community.”
The abolition of the Islamophobia envoy marks a rare retreat from the Trudeau-era architecture of grievance-based governance. Whether the new advisory council represents a genuine reset—or merely a rebranding—remains to be seen.
Note: Focus on Western Islamism (FWI) attempted to contact Elghawaby via the website for the Office of the Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia and received an automatic reply that stated she “is no longer available to respond to inquiries in an official capacity.”
