Dr. Monia Mazigh
Lifetime Contribution
Dr. Monia Mazigh is an academic, award-winning author, and human rights advocate who has called Ottawa home since 1998. Originally from Tunisia, she immigrated to Canada in 1991, settling first in Montreal to pursue graduate studies in finance. She earned her Ph.D. from McGill University in 2000.
Dr. Mazigh became a national figure in 2002 when her husband, Maher Arar, was unlawfully deported to Syria where he was imprisoned and tortured without charge. Her tireless public campaign to secure his release and restore his reputation galvanized civil society and ultimately led to a formal apology and compensation from the Canadian government in 2007. Her 2008 memoir, Hope and Despair, recounting this ordeal, was shortlisted for the Ottawa Book Award.
In 2004, Dr. Mazigh became the first visibly Muslim woman to run for federal office in Canada, standing as the NDP candidate in Ottawa South and achieving a historic result for the party in that riding. This marked the beginning of her enduring work at the intersection of human rights, politics, and civic engagement.
A respected public intellectual, Dr. Mazigh has written extensively on national security, civil liberties, and gendered Islamophobia. She served as National Coordinator of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, worked with Amnesty International, Inter Pares, and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and has published op-eds in The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, and Le Devoir.
Dr. Mazigh has also made her mark in literature. Her novels Mirrors and Mirages (2014), Hope Has Two Daughters (2017), and Farida (2022) have all earned critical acclaim, with Farida winning the Ottawa Book Award. Her 2023 non-fiction work, Gendered Islamophobia: My Journey with a Scar(f), was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award.
Beyond her writing, Dr. Mazigh is a committed community volunteer. From 2011 to 2015, she chaired the Multifaith Housing Initiative’s annual Tulipathon, raising awareness and support for affordable housing. Between 2013 and 2024, she served as Secretary of the Ottawa Muslim Women’s Organization (OMWO), helping to lead events like the Festival of Friendship Dinner and Islamic History Month. Her grassroots work has supported numerous causes including women’s education, interfaith dialogue, and refugee support.
Dr. Mazigh has served on the boards of Multifaith Housing Initiative, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, Rideau Institute, and the Association des auteures et auteurs de l’Ontario français, among others. She is an advisor to Justice for All and the Institute for Canadian Citizenship and serves as “Marraine d’honneur” for Gatineau’s Bravo Scholarship Fund supporting refugee youth in higher education.
In 2023, she was appointed Commissioner of the Ottawa People’s Commission, which investigated the social impacts of the 2022 convoy occupation of downtown Ottawa. She is also an adjunct and research professor in the Department of English at Carleton University, where she teaches courses in the Lifelong Learning Program. A certified yoga teacher, she has completed the Ottawa half-marathon three times.
Dr. Mazigh’s advocacy and leadership have been recognized with numerous awards, including the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Ontario Leading Women Building Communities Award, and the Council of Canadians Human Rights Award. She was named one of Time Magazine’s Canadian Heroes in 2004 and has continued to inspire with her integrity, resilience, and lifelong dedication to justice.
