Canada reviews anti-racism funding after 'vile' tweets
- Published
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the non-profit of "xenophobia, racism and anti-Semitism"
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said it is "unacceptable" that his government awarded money to an anti-racism group whose consultant made anti-Semitic remarks on social media.
Canada will now review how federal anti-racism funding is given out.
It has also withdrawn a six-figure grant to the Community Media Advocacy Centre.
The lawyer for the organisation's senior consultant, Laith Marouf, defended his client's posts.
The fallout occurred after posts on Mr Marouf's private Twitter account surfaced, some of which were condemned as racist against the Jewish community.
Another tweet, also criticised as bigoted, targeted former US Secretary of State Colin Powell and celebrated his death.
Mr Marouf is listed as a senior consultant for the Montreal-based Community Media Advocacy Centre, a non-profit that has been working on building an anti-racism strategy for Canadian broadcasting.
The group was recently awarded $133,800 (£87,600) by the federal government to support its anti-racism work.
The funding was announced in August 2021, external as part of $20.4m given in total to 92 anti-racism projects in Canada.
Canada's minister of diversity, Ahmed Hussen - who was appointed after the grant was announced - called Mr Marouf's tweets "reprehensible and vile" and cut all funding to the organisation.
Following news of the tweets, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs in Canada called on the government to review its funding policies, and said Canadians "should be appalled" by these posts.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Mr Trudeau said the Community Media Advocacy Centre had demonstrated "xenophobia, racism and anti-Semitism".
He added that his government would be reviewing how anti-racism funding is awarded "to make sure that no other organisation or hateful individual slip through the cracks".
Neither Mr Marouf nor the Community Media Advocacy Centre responded to requests for comment from the BBC.
In a statement to the Canadian Press on 19 August, Mr Marouf's lawyer, Stephen Ellis, defended his client and said he does not harbour "any animus toward the Jewish faith as a collective group".