Appels alternés entre la liberté d’expression et la liberté de la religion : mise en relation de moments politiques au Canada contemporain

This article analyses how arguments in Canadian newspaper op eds that promote the freedom of expression can serve as conduits for Islamophobia. To reflect on this slippage, we compare opinion pieces in five English-language daily newspapers on 2019’s Law 21 in Québec, and discussions surrounding Motion 103 in 2017, and the appointment of Amira Elghawaby as Canada’s Special Representative on Islamophobia in 2023. We show how ‘freedom of religion’ and ‘freedom of expression’ frameworks both construct a tolerant and modern Canadian nation in contrast to Québec. English-language media tend to promote Law 21 as discriminatory towards religious minorities, particularly Muslims, while their discussions of Motion 103 and the appointment of Amira Elghawaby nevertheless contain arguments with an Islamophobic slant. We conclude that anti-Islamophobia discourse in the Canadian English-language media thus remains fragile.