Four days after the events, consternation continues to be felt on social networks following remarks deemed “deplorable” and “unacceptable” made on Tuesday by the mayor of Anjou towards a 15-year-old young man. who had come to oppose the ban on playing free soccer on some fields in the Montreal borough.
The meetings of the Borough Council of Anjou, like those of the other boroughs of the metropolis, are generally not viewed online. But the broadcast of the session held on Tuesday evening, which has caused an uproar in recent days after being widely shared, has been viewed more than 7,000 times, as of Saturday afternoon. A number that continues to climb.
During the question period of this monthly meeting of elected officials from the northeast borough of Montreal, a young man, Hocine Ouendi, came to the microphone. Calmly, he told the mayor of Anjou, Luis Miranda, of his disappointment with the ban put in place without notice at the end of August to practice free soccer on some synthetic fields in the borough.
This decision was taken following “incivility” committed by “young people”, the mayor first replied to him. Electric scooters and bicycles have been seen in particular on these grounds and elderly people have left the premises after being victims of “aggressive” behavior from certain people, argued the 67-year-old mayor. Mr. Ouendi then reminded him that it is a “minority” of people who act in this way. “It’s the majority”, replied Luis Miranda, who considers “unacceptable that people act in the same way”.
“And if you’re a parent, talk to your young ones, educate your kids. Because there are many who are poorly educated. And don’t say it’s still someone else’s child, ”added the mayor, visibly irritated by the young man’s questions. He also wondered why, in his opinion, it is only on soccer fields – unlike those reserved for other sports – that “incivility” occurs. “Look at each other in the mirror and ask yourself questions,” he said.
The mayor could not be reached by The duty Friday and Saturday.
“Unacceptable” remarks
Keeping his composure, Hocine Ouendi calmly told Mr. Miranda that he was in fact 15 years old. “What I don’t understand is that you are approaching the subject in a really aggressive way. It’s as if it annoys you that I’m talking to you about this, “said the young man, who simply wanted to point out to the mayor that, in his opinion, the decisions he made in this file” were not good ” .
“I find it special. First, I, at 15, would not have come to confront the mayor like you did. I don’t know why it’s you. It should have been your father or your mother who should have been there […] If I had known you were 15, I would not have spoken to you,” the mayor of Anjou later said. The young man’s mother then recalled that her son has the right to ask questions during a meeting of the borough council.
“His reaction was aggressive and unacceptable”, laments the father of the teenager Smail Ouendi, when joined by The duty Saturday. “He tried to intimidate her. He tried to do everything to keep him quiet, ”adds Mr. Ouendi, according to whom Mayor Miranda “lost the pedals”. “It’s as if he were attacking [à] a category of people,” he notes.
This affair caused several elected municipal officials to react, who also condemned the remarks of Luis Miranda.
“Young people deserve to be listened to and not to be greeted with contempt,” noted the mayor of the borough of Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles, Caroline Bourgeois, in particular, like many other Internet users. “The public question period is for everyone! “, added Saturday the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, who said she was” proud of Hocine Ouendi “.
When young people speak out publicly, our democracy is doing well. Proud of Hocine Ouendi, 15 years old.
The public question period is for everyone!#polmtl https://t.co/dkXlROJBT7
— Valerie Plante (@Val_Plante) October 8, 2022
The Center for Research-Action on Race Relations, for its part, invited the family of the young man to file a complaint against Mayor Miranda. “The comments are completely degrading and denigrating towards the young person”, lambasted the general manager of the organization, Fo Niemi, in an interview with the To have to Saturday. “It’s really unworthy of an elected official,” added Mr. Niemi, who hopes that Mr. Miranda will publicly apologize for his remarks.
“The mayor, to calm the situation, could have at least picked up the phone and called us to apologize,” also notes Smail Ouendi. However, he did not do it, sighs the father of four children.
The statements of the mayor of Anjou are all the more “deplorable” as they occur in a context where it is difficult to interest young people in municipal politics, notes the professor in the Department of Strategy, Social Responsibility and Environmental Studies from UQAM, Danielle Pilette. The participation rate of voters aged 18 to 35, for example, fell to 24.7% in the municipal elections of 2021, in the metropolis, a finding considered worrying by Elections Montreal. The Conseil jeunesse de Montréal is campaigning for young people to be able to vote from the age of 16.
“It’s as if the mayor, in a first reflex, tried to limit the questions to voters and since this young man is not old enough to vote, he was excluded”, notes Ms. Pilette. However, she insists, a meeting of the borough council “must be public and accessible to all”. “The exercise should not be discretionary and should not be limited to a single type of guest,” adds the expert.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s an adult or a child, we have to listen to them, give them the chance to express themselves, also opines Smail Ouendi. Otherwise, there is no more democracy. »