In an anthology sketch of the Bye bye In 2007, the inhabitants of a Quebec village called a Muslim couple “races” and terrorists. “It’s not a strange person who’s going to come and change my habits, my sister… and our children!” declared a citizen of Hérouxtyville, a region where “a fir tree has the right to show its balls.”
The guys from Rock et Belles Oreilles (RBO) mocked, with their caustic and self-deprecating humor, the famous Code de vie d’Hérouxville. No one was publicly offended by this biting sketch in the days following its broadcast. And no one suggested that RBO was calling Quebecers inbred racists. This has, I imagine, nothing to do with the fact that Guy, Yves, Bruno and André are white men…
The day after the September 11 commemorations, the Minister of Immigration, Jean-François Roberge, declared on the X network that the comedian Anas Hassouna, born in Quebec and living (at least until recently) in Repentigny with his parents of Moroccan origin, was spreading “prejudices against Quebecers” and that this kind of remarks should “be denounced.”
One of Anas Hassouna’s favorite topics is racism. In his columns on the show Anything can happenhosted by Marie-Louise Arsenault on Radio-Canada radio, the 30-year-old comedian delivers comic numbers, sometimes with political content. Last Saturday, he devoted his column to his desire to attract a wider audience to his venues.
“I want to be more accepted by the right! I would like to have the slightly racist electorate behind me!” he said with obvious sarcasm. The proof is that he concluded his column by specifying: “More seriously, I invite everyone to come see my show Docile Arab. »
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Comedian Anas Hassouna
Hassouna took a humorous look at racism, just like RBO in his sketch. Hérouxtyville“François Legault managed to make Quebecers believe that one of the most pressing problems in Quebec is that women who wear the veil teach,” he declared, to mock the supporters of “Bill 21.”
Minister Jean-François Roberge, who clearly has sensitive skin, seized this big hook like Donald Trump in a presidential debate.
“Quebecers are not racist. Their premier is not racist. To say otherwise is irresponsible and dangerous,” added Minister Jean-François Roberge. Is it irresponsible for a minister to twist the meaning of words?
Anas Hassouna did not say, in his humorous column, that François Legault was racist or that Quebecers were racist, contrary to what the Minister of Immigration claims. He said that to mobilize a certain “slightly racist electorate,” François Legault, currently lagging in the polls, should consider making a racist gesture like reinstating slavery.
It was humor. There is no mistaking it. Hassouna was mocking Legault the strategist, but he was not accusing the Prime Minister of being racist. The difference and the nuance are fundamental.
One may find the caricature to be a failure or in bad taste, but it is clearly a gross exaggeration. It cannot in any way be evaluated with the same criteria and the same analytical grid as a political column or a public statement by a politician.
When former Immigration Minister Jean Boulet said two years ago that 80% of immigrants did not work, speak French or adhere to the values of Quebec society, he was not making a joke or promoting a stand-up comedy show called Docile CaquisteHe was involved in politics; which he still does, by the way: he is still a minister.
Quebec may be “open to the world,” as Jean-François Roberge also wrote on X, but it is not a society distinct from racism, which would have magically eradicated it unlike the rest of the planet. To claim otherwise is to live in the land of unicorns, an expression dear to the right that Anas Hassouna claims to want to seduce.
Would we be “Charlie” only when the caricature confirms our convictions? We’re talking about a comedy routine, but let’s be serious for two minutes. There was nothing in Hassouna’s column to whip a cat. There is a “slightly racist electorate” in Quebec, as there is in the rest of Canada, the United States, France and all the Scandinavian countries, without the slightest exception.
The “least racist” or “least racist” competitions wokeresidents of Moose Jaw, Repentigny or Chibougamau, will not change anything. The extreme right is gaining ground everywhere and we are not immune.
This new episode of facile indignation at a false offense to the Quebec people, so profitable in politics, highlights the different degrees of Quebecness required to make fun of one’s fellow citizens. It reminded me of the outcry over another dark-skinned Quebec comedian: Sugar Sammy. However, when the same type of humor comes from Rock et Belles Oreilles, it goes down like a letter in the post.
If the host Marie-Louise Arsenault laughed at Anas Hassouna’s jokes, as some have criticized her for, it is mainly for one reason: she is not lacking in self-mockery.