A “defamatory technique” by Bouazzi, judge Paul St-Pierre Plamondon

The attempts of Québec Solidaire (QS) to make its adversaries inaccessible are no longer acceptable to the population, said PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon at a press scrum in Victoriaville on Saturday.

He was reacting to the comments of MP Haroun Bouazzi, of Québec Solidaire, who recently attacked him by suggesting that he is hostile to immigrants, which amounts to defamation, according to the PQ leader.

Mr. Bouazzi is currently at the center of a controversy for having affirmed that every day, he hears comments in the National Assembly that depict the Other, immigrant, indigenous, black, with an inferior or dangerous culture, which has caused an outcry throughout the political class.

On the eve of a national council of PQ in Victoriaville, the leader of the Parti Québécois said that this was not the first time that Mr. Bouazzi had accused him of being racist.

This is a recurring process of Québec solidaire.

Inventing remarks to signal one’s virtue on a false basis but also trying to make adversaries inaccessible, that no longer works in Quebec. We have experienced it in recent years, and now, we no longer want that, it no longer passes through the population, it no longer passes through political partieshe denounced.

There are dozens of examples where Mr. Bouazzi accused his opponents of being racist, he continued. Either QS continues to condone his deviations, or Mr. Bouazzi retracts and apologizes, otherwise he must be excluded from the caucus of QSsummarized Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon.

The head of PQ affirmed that the truth and facts are important and that, in the case of Mr. Bouazzi, his statements are not based on facts and that it is properly [parler] a defamatory technique.

However, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon does not intend to take legal action.

The big replacement

Friday morning on - radio, Mr. Bouazzi suggested that Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon is flirting with the far right by evoking a possible influx of immigrants from the United States following the election of President Trump.

M. [Paul] St-Pierre Plamondon explained to us that if we do not have sovereignty, we will disappear. There are nine million of us! If we disappear, it’s because we’re being replaced. Replace nine million [de personnes]it’s not a small replacement, it’s a big replacementhe pleaded.

The Great Replacement Theory is a popular theory in conspiracy circles. It is a discourse which asserts that populations of European origin are being replaced, with the assistance of elites, by immigrant populations, particularly of African origin.

Québec solidaire engages in a lot of negative politics by making accusations of intent that are based on nothing.

It was a recent statement during a speech to members of a foundation that works for people of North African origin that ignited the powder.

God knows that I see this in the National Assembly every day, the construction of this Other, of this Other who is North African, who is Muslim, who is black, who is indigenous, and of his culture which, by definition, would be dangerous or inferiordeclared the member for Maurice-Richard.

Both the CAQ and the Liberals and the PQ condemned these remarks by Mr. Bouazzi on Thursday, while the two co-spokespeople of QS judged them unfortunate and exaggerated without requiring an apology or retraction.

Denial

Mr. Bouazzi even went further on - radio on Friday while denying having treated his colleagues as racists. He notably targeted the Minister of Social Services, Lionel Carmant.

Mr. Carmant explains to us, to a question at the Salon bleu about speakers at the DPJ who slept with minors, and he ends up telling us: “It’s the immigrants’ fault”he said.

However, Mr. Carmant did not make these remarks in the House and was offended at being accused of fueling racism. Instead, he said that social services are under pressure, particularly due to the large number of new arrivals.

The impact of newcomers plays a role in all of the services we offer. You know that to my great despair, there are people who leave from South America, from the Caribbean, who cross the United States on foot, with their children, who arrive in Quebec, and because of their condition, there DPJ is called and must intervenehe declared.

Mr. Bouazzi also hit out at the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé: Mr. Dubé is asked about the waiting lists which are only growing – and he has been there for six years -, about the people who are going to have surgery, and he says: “It’s the immigrants’ fault.”

Mr. Dubé asked Mr. Bouazzi to retract: I have never said anything like that. It is completely unacceptable to suggest otherwise.

Mr. Bouazzi’s case is currently the subject of discussions at the Congress of QS in Montreal.