QUESTION PERIOD — Employment and Social Development
Hiring of University Faculty
September 17, 2024
Senator Gold, on August 30, Canada’s special representative on combatting Islamophobia, Amira Elghawaby, wrote to the presidents of Canadian universities and recommended that they hire more Muslim, Palestinian and Arab professors.
Senator Gold, do you consider it appropriate for a special representative appointed by the federal government to advise Canadian universities to hire professors of a specific religion, whatever that religion may be?
Thank you for the question. I think the Prime Minister was very clear on the government’s position. Let me say it again: Each university is responsible for deciding who it wants to hire.
That doesn’t really answer the question I asked you. Everyone agrees that diversity is very important, especially among university staff.
However, don’t you think that professors should be hired based on merit, not religion? Canada is a neutral, secular nation, isn’t it?
As the Prime Minister has said, every university has its own rules for hiring and dismissing employees, and the government clearly respects these rules.
