Explainer: What does a Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia do?

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Earlier this year Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau announced the appointment of Canada’s first ever Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia, with journalist and human rights activist Amira Elghawaby taking the role. 

“Diversity truly is one of Canada’s greatest strengths, but for many Muslims, Islamophobia is all too familiar,” Trudeau said. “The appointment of Ms. Elghawaby as Canada’s first Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia is an important step in our fight against Islamophobia and hatred in all its forms.” 

Elghwabay officially began her appointment as Special Representative on February 20, 2023. But what does having a role like this entail in Canada? How did the role come to be? How much power will the Special Representative have? And what might social purpose organizations learn from her work?

Future of Good set out to answer these questions — here’s what we found.

What is a Special Representative?

A Special Representative is a Governor In Council appointment made by the Governor General who acts on the advice given by cabinet members. Other examples of Governor In Council appointments include chairs, ombudspersons, and chief executive officers of crown corporations.

According to Anver Emon, a professor of law at the University of Toronto, the role of a special representative is someone “with a very specific mandate to address a very specific issue“ in Canada. He says this role is different from the roles of celebrity ambassadors who work with the United Nations. 

“In the past, it’s been more about leveraging celebrity to bring public attention to a problem that maybe was more on the margins,” Emon said. “The [role of the Special Representative] now [has] government offices with mandates, allocated budgets, and so on. It’s not just a PR issue or it’s not just about maximizing public awareness though … These are positions that are meant to do work and showcase results in a way that then feeds into annual budget processes at the taxpayers expense.”

While this is the first time Canada is having a Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia, there are similar government roles that pertain to addressing a specific societal issue. Emon mentions the role of the Special Envoy on Preserving the Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism as an example. The Special Envoy was created and appointed in November 2020.

“We need to think about the two [roles] as two sides of a similar coin,” Emon said. “At a time when we see both rises of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, whether through white supremacy or white extremist groups for others, both of these groups have been targeted more so in recent years. That is a sad reality that is the preface to both of these offices.”

Unlike the Special Envoy, whose role includes working domestically and abroad, the role of the Special Representative is primarily domestic. 

The Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia will report directly to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, according to the Minister’s office. 

How did this role come to be?

 There’s been an ongoing rise in Islamophobia within Canada, which the federal government defines in its Anti-Racism Strategy as including racism, stereotypes, prejudice, fear or acts of hostility directed towards individual Muslims or followers of Islam in general.

In recent years, Canada has witnessed a man attacking a Quebec City Mosque with a gun, resulting in the death of six people and serious injuries to five others. On June 6, 2021, four members of the Afzaal family died in a premeditated and hate-motivated attack with a truck in London, Ontario. And on January 8, 2023 a Muslim woman wearing a niqab in Toronto was physically assaulted, fell down an escalator and ended up in the hospital with a concussion and damages to the face and head.  

According to a spokesperson from the Office of the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, the role of the Special Representative was a recommendation at the virtual National Summit on Islamophobia in July 2021. The Summit took place following the deaths of four members of the Afzaal family. 

It was then on January 28, 2022, just before the five-year anniversary of the Quebec City mosque shooting, when the office announced its intention to appoint a Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia. 

How was the Special Representative selected?

Because the Special Representative is a Governor in Council appointment, the Governor General of Canada selected the candidate, with advisory from Cabinet. Applications for the Special Representative opened on June 6, 2022. Candidates had one month to apply for the position.  

What an honour it is to officially begin my role as Canada’s Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia here in the nation's capital, a short car ride from where I grew up in Ottawa’s East end. 1/5 pic.twitter.com/y9EL40kPC9

— Amira Elghawaby (@AmiraElghawaby) February 20, 2023

While it’s not clear on the specific parameters used to select the candidate, according to the Office of the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion’s spokesperson, the Governor in Council selection process was “open, transparent and merit-based.” 

How long is the role of a Special Representative?

The Special Representative’s term, which began on February 20, 2023, is four years long. It’s also worth noting that the Special Envoy on Preserving the Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism’s role started out as a one-year term and then became permanent one year later. 

What projects will the Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia focus on?

During the Special Envoy on Preserving the Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism’s first term, Irwin Cotler had co-convened a National Summit on Anti Semitism, and supported Canada’s pledges to combat anti-semitism and Holocaust denial, hate crimes and all other forms of racism at the Malmö International Forum.  

It is early days since Elghawaby began her term, and specifics on what she will focus on are not clear just yet. However, the spokesperson from Minister Ahmed Hussen’s office provided general mandates for the Special Representative.

“The Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia will serve as a champion, advisor, expert, and representative to support and enhance the federal government’s efforts in the fight against Islamophobia, systemic racism, racial discrimination, and religious intolerance,” they said. 

“Ms. Elghawaby will promote awareness of the diverse and intersectional identities of Muslims in Canada and provide advice to the government in the development of inclusive policies, legislative proposals, programs, and regulations that reflect their realities. The Special Representative will be consulting with communities and community organizations directly to inform her work including the office’s objectives.”

The National Canadian Council of Muslims put recommendations in a statement after Elghawaby was announced as the Special Representative. These recommendations include reviewing “all departments that deal with national security in relation to Islamohpobic past and present policies,” and challenging Islamophobia “in all parts of the country, including Quebec, where it is illegal to wear a hijab in certain places.” 

Emon is also interested to see if the Special Representative will prioritize reviewing national security as one of her projects. “I’m not interested in the everyday Islamophobia on the street because we know what that looks like, we know who’s doing that,” he said. “I’m interested in the parts that are not not clear or not, easy to see, and that usually hide behind administrative regulations and national security framework.

In short, if I were to put it in a different way, [I’m interested in her reviewing] systemic Islamophobia that’s perpetuated by the institutions that we’re asked to trust.” 

 Emon hopes to see a formal apology from the federal government for its contribution to Islamophobia as one of the outcomes from the suggested projects, similar to apologies the government has made in regards to residential schools, and Chinese immigrant head taxes.

“The moral panic after 9/11 has created a series of institutional frameworks at the federal provincial and municipal level that internalizes Islamophobia, as if it were a meaningful policy, a respectable policy. And it’s a real problem, it’s a real problem across the board,” Emon said. 

“[These government policies affect] the way banks report on transactions, what are called suspicious transactions, under the Proceeds of Crime Act. It informs social workers when they have to think about whether to remove a child from a Muslim family or not. It affects school boards and the way they decide curriculum.”

How much does a Special Representative make? What is their budget for their projects?

The Special Representative makes between $162,700 – $191,300 per year as it is classified as a GCQ 5 job.  A spokesperson from Minister Hussen’s office says that Canada’s Budget 2022 will provide $1.2 million to support the Special Representative’s projects. This money comes from Canada’s 2022 Budget, in which $5.6 million has been allocated over five years to help tackle religious discrimination, hateful rhetoric and racism.

How much power does a Special Representative have?

This is perhaps the most unclear, yet most important, question to answer, says Emon. “This is a government appointed position with a certain degree of independence. And what I’m saying is this person should look at how the government [itself] is Islamophobic,” he said. 

“That person [who addresses Islamophobia within the government] is not going to be very popular. And then the problem will be that elections are coming and ratings matter. Ridings in Ontario and Quebec matter. How do you walk that line?” 

It has been a few weeks since Elghawaby has taken her role as Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia. Only time will tell to see how the role will evolve and if it’s here to stay, like the Special Envoy. 

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