After the Parti Québécois (PQ), Québec solidaire (QS) in turn did an about-turn on Thursday regarding its support for a government decision to ban an event organized by a Christian group at the Québec City Convention Center.
QS MP Alexandre Leduc questioned his party’s readiness to support last week’s ban on the “Rally fire, faith and freedom” rally, described as “anti-abortion” by the Quebec government.
“The decision may have been a little too quick,” he said at a press briefing. With a step back, everyone, I think we realize that there are dangers in starting to go down this path. It does not lead us to beautiful places, I think, that way. So, we take a step back, we see that we have to approach this with a lot of philosophy, with a lot of serenity. »
A united government would look into the file with experts, ethicists, to establish guidelines and avoid case by case.
“We must not become censors of the good values of Quebec,” added Alexandre Leduc.
Last Friday, QS MP Ruba Ghazal praised Tourism Minister Caroline Proulx for opposing the event, organized by Harvest Ministries International, a British Columbia group.
“I would still like to take a few moments to congratulate Minister Caroline Proulx for her leadership, which ensured that an anti-abortion event that violates women’s rights did not take place at the Convention Centre,” she said. So, congratulations to M.me Caroline Proulx. »
The Quebec City Convention Center is a Crown corporation that reports to the Ministry of Tourism of Mme Proulx.
The duty revealed on Wednesday that Harvest Ministries sent a formal notice on June 2 to Mme Proulx in which the organization challenges its decision. According to the group, the rally is not an anti-abortion event.
Mme Proulx declined to comment on the case on Thursday, saying he is in court.
The Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette, for his part affirmed that he would take note of the formal notice before commenting on it.
Criteria
PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon for his part defended himself from having disavowed his deputy Pascal Bérubé, who had also supported Mr.me Proulx. On Wednesday, the PQ leader said that the issue of the right to abortion should be distinguished from that of freedom of expression.
“When we ask the government on the basis of what criteria, from now on, the minister will be able to order, decide who has the right to meet and who no longer has the right to meet because they do not correspond to the Quebec values, we still have no answer, he said Thursday. We are in the most complete arbitrariness. »
Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon stated that he had discussed his intervention with Mr. Bérubé.
“Each party has expressed its position on the specific issue of abortion, it is the same for me, our position, it is clear, on the issue of the right to abortion,” he said. he says.
QS, the PQ and the Quebec Liberal Party had all defended the right to abortion by supporting Ms.me Proulx, last Friday.
On Thursday, interim Liberal leader Marc Tanguay maintained that the government made the right decision.
“The state, in this case, does not have to shelter an anti-abortion discourse from an organization that will come and tell you that, among other things, there have been 4 million murders in Canada with abortions since 1969, because that it is part of their publications, ”replied Mr. Tanguay.