The family of young Hocine Ouendi, who was harshly rebuffed by the mayor of the borough of Anjou, Luis Miranda, last week in full council, has still not received an apology from the elected municipal official. .
Posted at 1:57 p.m.
Updated at 4:07 p.m.
Mr. Miranda said on TVA Nouvelles that he apologized for his behavior, but did not contact Hocine Ouendi or his family directly to make amends.
“I apologize for the way I answered, I shouldn’t have answered like that, but I still have to think about everyone’s well-being,” said Mr. Miranda, who is outside the country, during a brief telephone conversation with a television network reporter on Thursday.
The mayor of Anjou goes on to stress that he does not want to take all the blame for the incident. He explains that he has received emails from parents complaining that “12-year-old girls are being called whores by these young people”.
Neither Hocine Ouendi nor his father Smail Ouendi have been contacted directly by Luis Miranda, they confirmed to The Press.
Plant “extremely angry”
Earlier Thursday, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said she was “extremely angry” with the borough mayor, asking him to apologize to the 15-year-old teenager and his family. .
“What Mr. Miranda has done is detrimental to all elected officials, because young people will say to themselves that politicians do not consider them,” lamented Ms.me Plant.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Mayor Valérie Plante announced that a sum of $7 million, within the City of Montreal’s participatory budget of $32 million, would be reserved for projects and infrastructures identified by young people to improve their living environments.
The mayor made this comment during a press conference during which she announced that an amount of $7 million, within the City of Montreal’s participatory budget of $32 million, would be reserved for projects and infrastructures identified by young people to improve their living environments.
She stressed that this initiative would allow young people to “reclaim their power to act on their city” instead of turning to violence.
Soccer fields closed
And this is precisely what Hocine Ouendi wanted to do, by appearing before the borough council of Anjou, to ask the mayor to reopen synthetic soccer fields in three parks in the area.
The grounds were closed due to acts of vandalism, and the teenager proposed the hiring of guards to avoid this kind of situation.
He was harshly criticized and interrupted by Luis Miranda, who lectured him for daring to ask the mayor a question. “At 15, I don’t even have a business talking to him,” said the borough mayor, who asked the young Hocine’s mother to better educate her child.
“Look at yourself in the mirror,” continues Mr. Miranda, pointing out that such problems only occur on soccer fields and not on the sets of other sports.
“I am extremely angry with Mr. Miranda’s remarks because it will have an influence on the way young people will see adults,” said Mayor Plante.
“Congratulations to Hocine Ouendi, 15, who went to ask his question. What an eloquent youngster, accompanied by his parents who are there, proud. It’s such a beautiful picture. I would like to tell Mr. Miranda that at the municipal council, young people come to ask questions, children too, and no one gets turned around. »
During the press conference, Abdellah Azzouz, speaker at the Youth Forum of Saint-Michel, also deplored the remarks of the mayor of the borough of Anjou, asking him to reopen the soccer fields for young people.