The federal representative on combating Islamophobia, Amira Elghawaby, has recommended that Canadian universities hire more Muslim professors. This was not a demand or a requirement, but it has raised hackles in Quebec, which is demanding her resignation, with TVA posting a headline saying she’s spitting on Quebec.
I sometimes feel that in its deepest heart many in Quebec are still resolutely Catholic, or why would they feel this suggestion as an active insult? Plenty of people have studied with Muslim professors without the merest hint of proselytizing in the classroom. The suggestion does not necessarily contravene the principle of secularism in government.
The Crusades are still going on.
Tim S. 20:05 on 2024-09-13 Permalink
Leaving aside the Quebec reaction, urging universities to protect academic freedom and telling them who to hire is a direct contradiction.
Chris 20:10 on 2024-09-13 Permalink
>I sometimes feel that in its deepest heart many in Quebec are still resolutely Catholic
Or perhaps they are resolutely anti-Catholic, and by extension anti-any-religion. The cultural memory of religion left such a bad taste, that they don’t care for other flavours either.
Joey 20:58 on 2024-09-13 Permalink
Kate, you wrote “Catholic” but I think you meant “white.”
JP 21:33 on 2024-09-13 Permalink
Not Catholic or white but her suggestion doesn’t sit well with me either. Connecting that sentiment to the Crusades as ongoing seems a little intense.
carswell 00:33 on 2024-09-14 Permalink
One of the first things Legault did after being received on a state visit to the California was to ask Gavin Newsom if he was Catholic (“Yep” was the terse reply) and then chime in with “all French-Canadians are.” Your deep-hearted feelings may not be so off the mark.
H. John 00:44 on 2024-09-14 Permalink
Ms. Elghawaby, whose mandate includes “supporting efforts to address systemic racism and Islamophobia through public education and awareness”, wrote to Canadian universities and cited a report written by Justice J. Michael MacDonald titled “Strengthening the Pillars: Report of the TMU External Review”. His report was written following an incident at the Toronto Metropolitan University Faculty of Law.
She quoted Justice MacDonald’s suggestions:
that universities should provide “learning opportunities, with student input and involvement, on anti-Palestinian racism, anti-Muslim racism, and antisemitism, as prevalent examples of systemic discrimination”; and,
institutions should use “available mechanisms to increase the diversity of full-time faculty” to better reflect the student body, including increased representation of Muslim, Palestinian and Arab faculty members.
His report was published last May.
https://www.torontomu.ca/report-release/
Her X post with the full letter is here:
https://x.com/AmiraElghawaby/status/1829608517294305296
Kate 09:11 on 2024-09-14 Permalink
Thank you, H. John.
I wasn’t so much debating the issue of Ms Elghawaby’s views, as wondering why some in Quebec find them a direct insult. It’s as if “support Islam = demote Quebec” but why? Quebec has not experienced any Islamic attack – quite the opposite actually. And nobody here has ever mentioned being proselytized by Muslims.
Also, some critics want Elghawaby fired, but surely anyone in the specific role of officially fighting Islamophobia would raise similar issues. It seems like anything said by a person in that role who speaks up to defend Islam would be felt to be insulting Quebec. Why?
I feel that Quebec has an unresolved relationship with religion in general. I had a sudden insight recently that in some part of some Quebec hearts, they’re envious of religious Muslims – envious of their faith, of a certainty that used to reign here and no longer does. But I’d have to write a whole book about this, and I have other things to do.
Kevin 09:24 on 2024-09-14 Permalink
Anyone who gets angry the moment someone suggests they embark on a course of action is someone who is deeply insecure.
Cue “Boss of me” by They might be giants.
It is absolutely ridiculous that prominent Quebecers are demanding not only that she be fired, but that the federal post be abolished.
H. John 11:41 on 2024-09-14 Permalink
@Kate I think the “some in Quebec” are being egged on by CAQ making this another perceived attack on Quebecers, and another case of the federal government interfering in a Quebec jurisdiction (Education). It’s not an opinion shared by all Quebecers.
As La Presse mentioned in their report on the issue:
“Sur cette question, la Fédération québécoise des professeures et professeurs d’université (FQPPU) a abondé dans le même sens. « On a été particulièrement choqués par la manière dont certaines institutions, notamment l’Université Laval et l’Université McGill, ont géré la situation des campements », a expliqué Madeleine Pastinelli, présidente de la FQPPU. Mais les recommandations ne sont pas matière à « scandale » pour l’organisation, car les universités québécoises possèdent déjà leurs propres politiques en matière de diversité.”
And on Universities Canada web site:
“In 2017, university presidents from across Canada made a personal commitment to being active champions of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) on our campuses, in our communities and across the country. That commitment and others were made publicly through Universities Canada’s Inclusive Excellence Principles. In a series of seven principles, they made clear the vital importance of a diversity of identity and thought at our institutions by: providing equity of access and opportunity; identifying and addressing structural barriers to, and providing supports for, the recruitment and retention of senior university leaders, faculty, staff and students, particularly from underrepresented groups; and demonstrating progress over time.”
Kate 09:40 on 2024-09-15 Permalink
It’s not an opinion shared by all Quebecers.
I know, which is why I was writing “some” above. But it evidently works to appeal to a segment of the population here to go on implicitly defining Quebec as Catholic, so that any support for Islam is automatically regarded as an insult. It’s a zero-sum game.
One of the ironies is that a category of immigrants Quebec likes, because they arrive already speaking French, are from the Maghreb – but they’re Muslim. Can’t win!