OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA | A petition organized by the CLARITy Coalition is calling on the federal government to reconsider appointments to the new Ministerial Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion and to appoint Canadian Muslim reform advocate Raheel Raza, arguing that those advising Ottawa on antisemitism should have demonstrated records of confronting anti-Jewish hatred and extremist ideology.
The Change.org petition, created on June 9, had surpassed 4,000 signatures by August 25. It asks Ottawa to review recent appointments, add Raza to the council, and ensure future members are selected based on demonstrated expertise in combating antisemitism, extremism and hate.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the council on June 1, and Canadian Identity and Culture Minister Marc Miller chairs it.
The federal government said the body was created to combat racism and hate in all forms and to advise Ottawa on social cohesion, equality and rights. Carney also directed the council to begin its work by examining antisemitism across public institutions, workplaces, campuses and online spaces.
The petition argues that the scale of antisemitism in Canada requires advisers whose records inspire public confidence.
โJewish Canadians deserve more than symbolic action,โ the petition states. โThey deserve a government that treats antisemitism with the seriousness it demands and a council composed of individuals whose records demonstrate an unwavering commitment to confronting hatred in all its forms.โ
Petition Questions Omar Alghabra Appointment
Among the appointments specifically challenged by the petition is former Liberal cabinet minister Omar Alghabra.
The petition says Alghabra โreportedly lobbied against efforts to designate Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizationsโ and argues that such allegations warrant scrutiny when appointing someone to a body advising government on antisemitism.
That claim requires qualification.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre made a similar allegation in June, saying Alghabra had lobbied him before entering politics to keep Hezbollah legal. JTA reported that Poilievre did not provide further evidence when asked and that Alghabra did not respond to its request for comment.
Alghabraโs public parliamentary record also includes statements explicitly describing Hamas as a terrorist organization. During a 2016 House of Commons debate, he referred to Hamas as a โterrorist organizationโ while calling for a negotiated two-state outcome.
Accordingly, the claim that he opposed terrorist designations should be treated as an allegation rather than an established fact unless additional documentary evidence is produced.
The broader controversy over his appointment reflects competing views about what experience should qualify someone to advise the government on antisemitism and other forms of hate.
The council also includes members from a range of legal, academic, community and advocacy backgrounds, and its mandate extends beyond antisemitism to racism, Islamophobia and other forms of discrimination.
Petition Promotes Raheel Raza as Alternative
The petition says Raheel Raza represents the kind of voice it believes is missing from the council.
Raza is president of the Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow, a founding member of the Muslim Reform Movement and a longtime author, journalist and human-rights advocate.
She is also publicly associated with the Council of Muslims Against Antisemitism, which describes itself as a Muslim-led organization dedicated to fighting antisemitism in all its forms. Its published leadership material identifies Raza as president of the Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow and highlights her work on extremism, gender equality and pluralism.
Raza has repeatedly criticized Islamist extremism, religious intolerance and antisemitism while advocating secular democratic values and womenโs rights.
The petition describes her as someone who has demonstrated โcourage, expertise, and moral clarityโ in confronting antisemitism and extremist ideology.
CLARITy says Canada has many Jewish leaders, Muslims, ex-Muslims, scholars, security experts and human-rights advocates with substantial experience addressing antisemitism and radicalization, and argues that more of those voices should be represented on the federal council.
Muslim Association of Canada Controversy Cited
The petition also points to recent controversy surrounding the Muslim Association of Canadaโs 2026 convention in Toronto as an example of why expertise on ideological extremism is relevant to the councilโs work.
Reporting from the May convention showed that a youth workshop used a live, anonymous word cloud to ask participants what type of community they wanted to build.
The phrase โJew freeโ appeared among the submissions displayed on the screen.
The Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation subsequently wrote to Exhibition Place calling for an investigation, describing the phrase as alleged antisemitic messaging and saying that, if substantiated, it would violate the standards expected at a city-owned venue.
The Muslim Association of Canada later apologized.
In an August statement, MAC said the phrase was โoffensive and hurtful to Jewish Canadians, to Muslim Canadians, and to anyone committed to a pluralistic society.โ
The organization said the submission was made anonymously during a public audience-participation exercise and did not represent MACโs values or Islamic teaching. It also said it would take steps to prevent a recurrence.
The same convention also drew scrutiny over a presentation discussing Muslim Brotherhood founder Hasan al-Banna and his model of Islamic revival.
Juno News reported that speaker Khaled Al-Qazzaz described al-Bannaโs approach as beginning with the individual, then the family, community and wider Muslim ummah.
The petition uses these incidents to argue that federal advisers should understand how antisemitic ideas can emerge within ideological or community settings.
Council Was Created Amid Rising Concern Over Antisemitism
Carney announced the advisory council while acknowledging that Jewish Canadians were facing an environment requiring extraordinary security measures.
In his June 1 remarks, the prime minister said a country in which Jewish schools require guards and synagogues require physical protection is โfailing its civic compact.โ
He instructed the council to reassess the scale and drivers of antisemitism, develop a whole-of-government response and examine the problem across institutions, workplaces, campuses and digital spaces.
The councilโs creation did not receive unanimous support within the Jewish community.
Some Jewish organizations welcomed a coordinated federal response, while others questioned particular appointments and whether the membership sufficiently reflected established expertise in antisemitism.
JTA reported in June that Poilievre publicly questioned Alghabraโs suitability and that some Jewish communal figures also criticized his inclusion.
The current petition seeks to turn those concerns into a specific request for personnel changes.
CLARITy Calls for โProven Credibilityโ
CLARITy describes itself as an international coalition of Muslims, ex-Muslims, academics, writers and activists who support democracy, human rights, secular governance and opposition to Islamism, antisemitism and religious extremism.
Its petition does not call for the council to focus exclusively on antisemitism.
Rather, it argues that a body mandated to combat multiple forms of hatred should include people who have demonstrated a willingness to confront extremism regardless of its source.
The petition asks Ottawa to take three steps:
- Reconsider recent appointments to the Ministerial Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion.
- Appoint Raheel Raza to the council.
- Base future appointments on demonstrated expertise in combating antisemitism, extremism and hate.
The federal government has not publicly indicated that it intends to change the councilโs membership in response to the petition.
Ottawa has also not announced that Raza is under consideration for a future appointment.
For now, the petition is an advocacy campaign rather than a formal government review.
Its central argument, however, reflects a broader debate already underway within Canadaโs Jewish community and among anti-extremism advocates: whether the governmentโs response to antisemitism should be judged not only by the creation of new institutions, but by the records of the individuals chosen to lead and advise them.
As antisemitic incidents continue to dominate public concern, that scrutiny is unlikely to diminish.
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