On January 29, there was the commemoration of the sixth anniversary of the massacre at the great mosque of Quebec. The commemoration took place inside the very mosque which saw bloodshed and the bodies of innocent victims fall.
I was present at the commemoration; I saw the resilience of the families of the victims, the survivors and the entire Muslim community of Quebec. They have clearly shown their rejection of Islamophobia, hatred and violence. They also demonstrated, and with the same vehemence, their attachment to Quebec and Quebec City, despite the tragedy.
Last Tuesday, January 31, I was also present when the National Assembly of Quebec unanimously voted for a motion presented by the official opposition to honor the memory of the victims of the massacre at the great mosque of Quebec, to show its solidarity with their families and unequivocally condemn all speeches and gestures of hatred, racism and discrimination against the Muslim community as well as any manifestation of xenophobia and Islamophobia, inviting the Government of Quebec to multiply initiatives aimed at to check these phenomena.
A historical reflection is necessary. This was the first vote Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, the leader of the Parti Québécois, cast in the National Assembly.
This motion was not the first to condemn Islamophobia in the National Assembly. Indeed, in 2015, the National Assembly voted, also unanimously, a motion presented by Françoise David of Québec solidaire aimed at “condemning Islamophobia and calls for hatred and violence against Quebecers of faith Muslim”.
We cannot deny the existence or the danger of Islamophobia. It exists in Quebec as elsewhere in the world, and it kills.
However, recognizing the existence of Islamophobia and its danger does not mean accusing Quebeckers of being Islamophobic or accusing Quebec of being Islamophobic. It simply says that Islamophobia, unfortunately, like anti-feminism or anti-Semitism, exists and makes innocent victims and that we must, as a society, fight it and protect ourselves from it.
The victims of the mosques in Quebec and Toronto and the park in London, Ontario, were killed or injured because they were Muslims. While we call things by their name. We must not be afraid to name the evil in order to be able to fight it.
Islamophobia not only threatens Muslims, but all of society.
When we talk about the victims, we must also talk about Adréanne Leblanc, this young paramedic who killed herself following her intervention on the front line during the attack on the great mosque of Quebec. We must also talk about the parents of the killer himself and his friends. By committing his crime, he destroyed their lives at the same time he destroyed the lives of innocent victims at the mosque. The victims of Islamophobia in Canada were academics and professionals who contributed very positively to the society they chose and which welcomed them. After the families of the victims, the greatest loser was not their countries of origin, but rather this host society which they served with dedication and loyalty.
Unfortunately, the Quebec massacre encouraged some people in English Canada to do what is called Quebec bashing by trying to call Quebecers xenophobes or Islamophobes. In this regard, we can point out that before the massacre of the mosque in Quebec, there was the shooting of the church in Charleston, and that after the massacre of Quebec there were the massacres at the synagogue of Pittsburgh , to the two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, to the mosque in Toronto, to the park in London, Ontario, and many more killings around the world.
The remarks of the new adviser against Islamophobia, Amira Elghawaby, probably stem from a lack of knowledge of Quebec.
These remarks caused some politicians to call not just for his resignation, but for the abolition of the post itself.
In this regard, instead of focusing on the person, we must emphasize the scourge of Islamophobia, its dangers and the means to be taken to eradicate it. Rather than abolishing the position at the federal level, it would be wiser to create one in Quebec to better reflect its distinct reality. Quebec society also deserves to be protected from Islamophobia and all forms of xenophobia, as mentioned in the motion adopted unanimously by the National Assembly. The fight against Islamophobia must be carried out at the federal, provincial and municipal levels.
Finally, it is through dialogue that we will respect the memory of our martyrs and that we will succeed in offering our children a future free from prejudice, hatred and violence. We can’t do anything for the dead, but we must protect the living.
Accuracy
In a previous version of the text, it was indicated that the motion presented by the official opposition to honor the memory of the victims of the massacre of the great mosque of Quebec had been voted on 1er FEBRUARY. However, it was instead voted on Tuesday, January 31.