A government adviser in Canada says that not providing prayer rooms at work is Islamophobia.
The official responsible for combating Islamophobia is demanding prayer rooms and government-paid time off for Muslim workers in federal offices.
Amira Elghawaby at a Muslim community event
Social Networks
[social-share align=»right» style=»button» mobile_app=»desktop»]
[social-share align=»center» style=»icon» mobile_app=»mobile»]
Amira Elghawaby leads the fight against Islamophobia in the Canadian government on Justin Trudeau's orders. One of her actions is to campaign against the lack of prayer spaces in public offices because it is Islamophobia. Not only does she say so, but Pressure the government in Ottawa directly to build Muslim prayer rooms in all federal facilities without exception..
Elghawaby's office He contacted multiple departments demanding information about the installation of prayer rooms.. An email dated 7 August acknowledged that they were gathering responses to hand over to the Muslim Federal Employees Network, the small voluntary network of around 60 civil servants which claims to represent 21 per cent of Muslim workers. In another message, staff complained that the Canada Revenue Agency had not responded to the request for “contemplation spaces.”.
Islamophobia is not having a break to pray.
The scandal has come to light thanks to the publication of Blacklock's Reporter, which has been picked up by the media. Western Standard. The investigation was carried out using documents obtained under the Access to Information Act. They contain notes from a June 2024 videoconference in which the adviser states that “Islamophobia in the workplace manifests when Muslim employees have difficulty obtaining reasonable accommodations such as prayer breaks, fasting during Ramadan or dress codes.”. In the same text he goes so far as to describe Islamophobia as a “a clear and present danger to our social fabricone.
These ideas were expressed at a meeting of the Muslim Federal Employees Network, a small but influential network of Muslim employees within the Canadian administration. Amira Elghawaby is not a member of the Muslim Federal Employees Network (MFEN), but she has become its voice within the government: Their office has participated in the network meetings and has acted as a conduit for its demands.. Their task is to pressure ministries and agencies into accepting the Muslims' requests. They have even gone so far as to deceive the ministries. making it seem that prayer is an inescapable obligation for Muslims and that, therefore, prayer rooms and religious breaks must be imposed on the public administration so as not to fall into Islamophobia. And, of course, without needing to turn back time to pray «because it is an obligation for Muslims».
What is the Muslim Federal Employees Network?
The MFEN is a network of Canadian federal public servants established in June 2021 with the aim of representing and supporting Muslim employees within the federal public service.
According to its strategic plan for the 2024-2025 fiscal period, the MFEN defines its mission as “play a leading role in helping the Government of Canada become a model of inclusion for Muslim civil servants”as well as providing “an open and safe forum for Muslim employees and non-Muslim allies to connect and discuss issues related to a healthy and inclusive working environment.”.
The “Guide for Managers” that requires religious rooms and privileges
The Muslim Federal Employees Network circulated a document entitled Managers' Guide to Supporting Muslim Employees, aimed at managers and heads of department in the Canadian public service. In this guide It is claimed that Muslims have five compulsory prayers a day and that up to three of them fall within the 9 am to 5 pm working hours, each prayer lasting between 10 and 15 minutes.. From this premise, the manual It states that prayer rooms are “necessary” and that employees must be able to interrupt work to fulfil their rituals..
But the guide doesn't stop here: It also warns managers that handshakes between men and women may be banned., and remember that Islam teaches that there is only one God. These instructions, presented as official training for managers, They have been interpreted by many as blatant pressure on the Canadian administration to adopt religious norms in a workplace environment that should be neutral and secular.
The same document concludes that Islamophobia is not only hatred or prejudice but also “the employer's refusal to adapt rules and practices to ensure equal opportunities for Muslim employees”.
More demands: money, holidays and legal changes
The Managers' Guide to Supporting Muslim Employees and the MFEN's strategic plan are not limited to prayer rooms and religious breaks. Among their proposals is the creation of programmes of public funding for the same network of Muslim employees, so that it would cease to be a voluntary group and start receiving taxpayers' money to sustain its activities. It is also demanded that senior government officials send Institutional messages of congratulations on Islamic festivities, equating them with official commemorations and introducing a religious recognition into the public service calendar
Furthermore, the leaked documents include much more far-reaching proposals: it is proposed to reform the Employment Equity Act because that Muslims be declared a “designated group” on the same level as Canada's Indigenous communities, which would open the door to quota policies and specific advantages in recruitment and internal promotion. It is also demanded that the Treasury Board collect official data on Muslim employees to identify their “barriers” and establish tailored policies. Overall, these demands go far beyond inclusion and point to a legal and institutional transformation that would make Islam the privileged reference within the federal administration.
Quebec combats Amira's discourse with its secularity law.
The clash between the Quebec government and the federal government is total when it comes to Muslims. Quebec has for years defended its strict secularism with Bill 21. This law prohibits teachers, police officers and judges from wearing religious symbols such as the Islamic veil or the kippah. The tension escalated when, following just a few students praying in schools, the Ministry of Education He issued an order prohibiting prayer within the centres.. More recently, the provincial government has gone even further with the decision to ban any prayer in the street or in public spaces. All of this has put Quebec in the crosshairs of accusations of Islamophobia, but the provincial government maintains that it is simply guaranteeing the neutrality of the State.
Meanwhile, Amira Elghawaby has Ottawa's support in arguing that denying spaces for prayer is Islamophobia.. For her and for the network of federal Muslim employees, prayer rooms and religious breaks are a right; for Quebec, they are privileges that undermine secularism.
In fact, opposition to Amira Elghawaby from Quebec goes back a long way. When she was appointed Special Representative against Islamophobia in 2023, the Quebec government called for her immediate resignation. Since then, each of her new interventions has been met with suspicion and controversy, turning her into a symbol of the persistent rift between Ottawa and Quebec over the role of religion in the public sphere.
More about Canada
A statue of the Virgin Mary and the Baby Jesus is decapitated in a village near Lyon.
Muslim attacks a woman in Barcelona city centre shouting «Christian whore»
Stabbed for being a Christian in Washington
The Three Wise Men of Guissona do not greet the Baby Jesus over the inclusion of Muslims.
Allah Akbar against the Brescia nativity scene
A Perpignan nativity scene is attacked twice just hours after it was installed
Virgin Mary decapitated and replica of Lourdes grotto destroyed in France
More Perceptions of
ERC, PSC and Comuns oppose combating political Islam in the European Parliament.
Azerbaijan expels students who wear Islamic headscarves from school
Sharia law in the US is supported by 75% of Muslims, 41% of atheists and up to 20% of Christians.
France now has a halal meat supply without the need to sacrifice animals facing Mecca.
The United Kingdom gives away a thousand hijabs in six months to immigrants arriving via the Channel
US Muslim politicians train Canadian Muslims under the slogan "From the mosque to the city hall"«
Teacher fired in Austria for denying a Muslim woman a prayer room
Canadian government normalizes Islamic prayer during workday
Lleida bans the burqa except if worn for religious reasons
Italy bans burqa and niqab but only in schools
The Generalitat pays tribute to the racist Abu Bakr al-Turtuxí as an anti-racist icon
A student residence in Scotland imposes Islamic law in common areas
Kazakhstan threatens to close private schools that allow hijab
A Catholic university in Belgium incorporates Islamic chants into the opening mass of the course
A Muslim family in Granada chooses a Catholic school and demands that the courts teach Islam there
Phrase of the Week
Image of the Week
-Don't you have cousins?