The “i” word is prohibited at the CAQ, quipped Québec solidaire spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, after the government voted against a motion asking to recognize the existence of Islamophobia in the Quebec.
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“Islamophobia, I know it’s a word that looks expensive in Scrabble, but it’s very easy to pronounce, it’s very easy to recognize,” said Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, Tuesday after- noon minutes after his party’s motion was defeated by the government.
Québec solidaire demanded that the government put in place a plan to fight against Islamophobia in Québec.
Before question period, the minister responsible for the fight against racism, Christopher Skeete, acknowledged that there is racism in Quebec, but he refrained from using the word “Islamophobia”, when specifically asked if this form of intolerance exists in the province.
“There are people who are discriminated against because they are Muslims, there are people who are discriminated against because they are black, there are people who are discriminated against because they are indigenous. We in Quebec have made the choice to fight against racism,” he said.
“The minister who is supposed to be responsible for the fight against racism in Quebec is not even able to pronounce the word Islamophobia, was indignant Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. The “i” word is therefore banned from the CAQ.”
Elghawaby case: QS joins the ranks
A few hours earlier, Quebec solidaire joined its voice to that of the other political parties to demand the resignation of the new representative of the fight against Islamophobia in Canada, Amira Elghawaby.
This is a volte-face for the Solidaires, who had refused, last week, to support a motion of the CAQ which urged the federal government to end the mandate of Ms. Elghawaby because of the controversial remarks that she had held in the past.
QS then pretended that they wanted to meet Mrs. Elghawaby first to hear what she had to say. It finally appeared that this meeting will not take place before he takes office on February 20.
“Despite this outstretched hand, Mrs Elghawaby informed us yesterday that she was not going to meet with us until February 20, the date of her official entry into office. However, this meeting was precisely intended to determine whether she was, in our opinion, the right person to occupy this position. We regret this situation, we cannot dialogue alone”, expressed Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and Manon Massé, Tuesday, in a statement sent to the media.
Faced with this refusal, the solidarity came to the conclusion that “Ms. Elghawaby is not the right person to lead the fight against Islamophobia in Quebec”. “She must resign,” added Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois lip service, Tuesday morning, at a press briefing.
- Listen to the interview with Mandana Javan, Quebecer of Iranian origin, on the Richard Martineau show via QUB-radio:
“Quebec solidaire has seen the light,” mocked the minister responsible for the fight against racism, Christopher Skeete, in the corridors of parliament.
According to Mr. Skeete, the volte-face of the Solidaires is an “attempt to recover” after realizing that their initial position was not in phase with public opinion in Quebec.
“Last week, they had their chance to vote with us in the motion to send a clear message. They missed that opportunity. Today, we see that they are waking up and, ”oops, maybe Quebec is not there”, so they are trying to make a little recovery, ”he added.