The Quebec National Assembly voted unanimously to call on the federal government to rescind the appointment of Amira Elghawaby.
While it has received limited attention in many quarters of English media, Justin Trudeau is facing a massive political crisis in Quebec.
Following his appointment of Amira Elghawaby as the federal ‘representative on combatting Islamophobia,’ Elghawaby’s past comments painting Quebecers as ‘Islamophobic’ have generated a significant backlash in the province.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault has called on Trudeau to rescind the appointment, something Trudeau has refused to do.
In his most recent comments on the issue, Trudeau said “I support Amira Elghawaby 100 per cent.”
Now, the crisis is escalating.
Legault unleashed an even stronger rhetorical attack against Trudeau, saying the PM is “endorsing the contempt towards Quebecers” by keeping her in the role:
“She did not apologize,” Legault said as he arrived for question period at the legislature. “I can’t believe that Mr. Trudeau says he supports her 100 per cent after all that she said, after all the contempt she has shown towards Quebec.
“In keeping her in the job, Mr. Trudeau endorses the contempt towards Quebecers.”
The Quebec National Assembly also voted unanimously to call on Elgahawaby’s appointment to be rescinded:
“The motion denounces the statements made by Elghawaby and notes she still has not apologized to Quebecers. It says Quebec is secular and promotes equality and freedom of conscience and religion.
The motion was adopted with 108 MNAs — including those of the CAQ, the Liberals and Parti Québécois — voting in favour. Québec solidaire abstained.”
Not one MNA opposed the motion.
Trudeau’s cynical attempt to wedge the Conservatives has backfired
Justin Trudeau now finds himself in a fight with multiple regions of the country at the same time.
Trudeau is tremendously unpopular in the West, particularly in Alberta and Saskatchewan as he attempts to strangle the energy sector there.
Trudeau is poised for a fight with Ontario over the opening of the Greenbelt to development.
And now, Trudeau has picked a fight with Quebec as he attempts to impose a divisive appointment.
A common thread in all of this is that in each instance Trudeau has sought to attack Conservatives – either federally or provincially – in order to gain short-term political advantage, but at the cost of long-term damage to the nation.
The appointment of Elghawaby represented an attempt to put the Conservatives on the defensive and demonize them, but that has now completely failed. Instead of hurting the Conservatives, Trudeau has now inflicted upon himself a huge political crisis in Canada’s second-largest province.
With the Quebec crisis continuing to grow, Trudeau and the Liberals are learning that their divisive political schemes can easily spiral out of control.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
