The federal government has announced that the new Canadian Human Rights Commission head, Birju Dattani, has indeed revealed the pseudonym he used in a controversial social media post, after the government initially claimed the information was never shared before his hiring.
A spokesman for Justice Minister Arif Virani confirmed that Dattani “provided a false name to civil servants as part of a security assessment of Dattani.” Chantal Aubertin, a spokeswoman for the minister, added that the name had not been provided to Virani’s office.
The news raises new questions about what the federal government knew, or should have known, about Dattani before he was appointed chair of the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC), Canada’s human rights watchdog.
In June, Dattani was appointed top commissioner of the CHRC, becoming the first Muslim or person of color to lead the organization.
Shortly after his historic appointment, national Jewish organizations cited anti-Semitic social media posts they made under the name “Mujahid Dattani” and a controversial appearance on a debate panel in the UK.
Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) Defendant Dattani Dattani was arrested after posting an article on X (formerly Twitter) that compared Israel to Nazi Germany. The post and Dattani’s account appear to have been deleted.
CBC News has not seen the alleged post. Dattani himself said he has never compared Israel to Nazi Germany. He said he shared an article without comment that likened the plight of Palestinians to that of prisoners in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II, adding that he disagreed with the assertions made in the article.
In 2015, Dattani spoke on a panel in Britain with members of Hezbollah Tahrir, an Islamic fundamentalist group that seeks to establish a new caliphate and opposes Israel’s existence.
Dattani said he did not know the affiliations of the other jurors and had never met them before.
The minister’s office did not confirm that Dattani had used the pseudonym “Mujahid Dattani” online, and did not respond to follow-up questions from CBC, but said a “formal independent investigation” had been launched into the matter and a report was due to be released by Aug. 8, the day Dattani is due to begin his new role.
CBC contacted the Ministry of Justice, and the Privy Council Office (PCO), the office of the federal cabinet and prime minister, said in a statement: “Due to privacy laws and confidentiality obligations, the PCO is unable to comment further.”
The Conservative Party of Canada has called on the federal government to revoke Dattani’s appointment and has asked the House of Commons justice committee to investigate the matter. The party has accused the government of conducting its own investigation.
Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lanzmann said the government could easily have found out about Dattani’s past through a Google search.
“Either total incompetence or something far more nefarious,” Lanzmann said in response to reports that Dattani provided false names to the government throughout the vetting process.
Despite the backlash, several groups issued joint or separate statements saying Dattani’s request to be fired was “deeply concerning.” His former employer, the Yukon Human Rights Commission, issued a statement of support For the former director.
The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) condemned the treatment of Dattani as “tantamount to a witch hunt”, adding that the government should have made it clear sooner that the false name had been revealed during the appointment process.
“Canadians are entitled to clarity on these issues and we look forward to a fair and balanced process that fully restores Mr. Dattani’s reputation,” said Fatema Abdallah, advocacy officer at NCCM.
The Black Collective Action Secretariat called for reform of the CHRC following reports of anti-black racism within the organisation.
The secretariat is within the group. Expressing Concerns Regarding the calls for Mr. Dattani to be fired.
Reacting to news that the government was aware of Mr Dattani’s online alias, executive director Nicholas Marcus Thompson suggested the government was trying to make Mr Dattani a “scapegoat” for political reasons.
“It appears the government is trying to shift the blame in this process onto the applicant, Mr. Dattani,” Thompson told CBC News. “At the end of the day, he provided information about a false name, which he was required to do.”
A Senate committee report found that anti-Black racism and other discrimination is widespread at the Canadian Human Rights Commission and in the federal civil service.
CBC has seen a blank copy of the application Dattani would have used to inform the government of his online alias, which states the information is needed by the Privy Council Office to determine a candidate’s “fitness to hold public office.”
Applicants will also be subject to background checks by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Canada Revenue Agency, as well as a review of “publicly available records” (including social media, court records and news reports).
Dattani had to pass a PCO background check before being appointed to the CHRC’s top job.
Through his lawyer, Muneeza Sheikh, Dattani declined to comment.
Sheik told CBC The statement she made In her writing about her client, she said Dattani was “the victim of a smear campaign by a small group of groups seeking to discredit him and the CHRC.”
“Some of these organisations (and individuals) have demonstrated a penchant for attacking leading Muslims,” she added. “They have accused Dattani of hiding his past online behaviour from the CHRC, which is false.”
In an interview, Richard Marceau, CIJA’s vice president for external relations and general counsel, said the federal vetting process is flawed.
“If they knowingly appointed someone with such a problematic history, that’s very worrying for the Jewish community,” Marceau said.
Liberal MP Marco Mendicino said the vetting process for public appointments was “seriously flawed” and needed to be fixed.
“A rigorous vetting process is necessary to ensure that the public can have the utmost confidence in the Speaker and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as the defender of human rights in our democracy,” Mendicino said in an email.
Dattani’s appointment to the CHRC comes at a time when the commission is facing intense scrutiny.
In March 2023, the federal government reported that CHRC had engaged in discriminatory practices against Black and people of colour employees. The government’s human resources arm, Treasury Board Canada Secretariat (TBCS), reached this conclusion after nine employees filed a grievance through their union in October 2020.
The Canadian Human Rights Commission has acknowledged it has dismissed numerous complaints about racism, with figures showing the commission dismissed race-based claims at a higher rate than other claims between 2018 and 2021.
UN-affiliated monitoring body the current, CHRC Certification Cooperating with the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
The Justice Department also ordered an external investigation last year into allegations that CHRC accessibility commissioner Michael Gottheil mistreated staff.
In a statement to CBC News through his lawyer, Gottheil acknowledged the existence of the investigation but said it was his understanding that no formal complaint had been filed at the time.
