(Montreal) “We must distinguish between secularism and our heritage”: François Legault defended himself a few minutes before noon, Monday, for a tweet published five hours earlier, in which he seemed to romanticize Catholicism while his government preaches for the secularism.
“Catholicism has also engendered a culture of solidarity among us that sets us apart on a continental scale,” wrote Mr. Legault on Twitter, sharing a column by Mathieu Bock-Côté published on the website of the Montreal Journal. Note that the elected official’s tweet is a quote from the said column.
Posted shortly before 6:30 a.m. Monday morning, the post had been seen by more than 238,000 social media users five hours later. The missive had been shared or reposted nearly 250 times and received nearly 500 responses, most of them negative.
An employee of the Prime Minister’s Office, Martin Plante, defended Mr. Legault a few minutes after his release.
“Secularism in no way implies an obligation to deny our heritage, nor a duty to erase our religious heritage. We can be proud of it, while defending the secularism of the state, ”he tweeted.
François Legault’s message had reacted strongly in the morning on Monday, in particular several members of the political class, who came out of their Easter holiday to criticize what they consider to be a lack of restraint on the part of the Prime Minister.
“So secularism, according to him, is simply not intended to be part of the heritage and is certainly not part of it today! tweeted former Liberal minister Gaétan Barrette.
The Liberal MNA and Official Opposition spokesperson for education, Marwah Rizqy, for her part challenged the Prime Minister, reminding him of his “duty of reserve and neutrality as PM of all Quebecers in our secular state.
“Mr. Prime Minister, we all do a tweet that we regret. Not many people will mind you to remove this one before that [parte] in a spin”, she published in the middle of the morning.
This publication was shared by his colleague from Westmount–Saint-Louis, Jennifer Maccarone, then by the former Liberal minister Christine St-Pierre, who challenged the Prime Minister.
“Ask yourself, Mr. Legault, about the equality [femme/homme] within Catholicism! Seems to me to be food for thought,” she wrote.
Gregory Kelley, Liberal MP for Jacques-Cartier, contented himself with sharing the Prime Minister’s tweet with the mention “I am not Catholic” and a gif from the film Happy Gilmore in which the main character is told, in English : ” better luck next time “.
The Liberal MP for Nelligan, Monsef Derraji, for his part described as “lack of judgment” the tweet of Mr. Legault, “a prime minister who supposedly advocates the secularism of [l’État] “.
A former candidate for the Bloc Québécois and Québec solidaire, Shophika Vaithyanathasarma denounced the variable geometry secularism of the Prime Minister, who “draws this line [entre État et religion] only when it’s not Catholic. Secularism when it tempts us…”
“The cassock goes beyond,” was content to write the NDP deputy for the federal riding of Rosemont-La Petite Patrie, Alexandre Boulerice.
Many Internet users also reacted negatively to the Prime Minister’s message, which comes just days after the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, called certain schools to order by prohibiting them from setting up premises to allow the prayer at school. The National Assembly had unanimously adopted a motion on this subject.
Businessman Mitch Garber recalled that “we have lived in a secular society for many years, with freedom of religion. The Church, and no other religion, has had any influence over our children, courts or our police. That era is long gone. And it’s not because of Law 21.”
Comedian Sugar Sammy joked about the controversy, tweeting that “secularism matters, except once on Twitter.”