Amira Elghawaby said she is "extremely sorry" for the impacts of her words and how they hurt the people of Quebec, adding that she will listen carefully.

In 2019, Amira Elghawaby criticized Quebec's Bill 21, which bans certain government employees, including teachers and police officers, from wearing religious symbols on the job.

"There are plenty of things we should be talking about that we don't talk much about, because this issue is eating up all the space,'' Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said Tuesday.