Allegations of racism in the National Assembly | Québec solidaire holds “internal” discussions on Haroun Bouazzi

(Montreal) The comments of Maurice-Richard’s solidarity MP, Haroun Bouazzi, on alleged racism in the National Assembly continue to arouse unease within his party.

Discussions are continuing, both in the caucus and with Mr. Bouazzi, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and Ruba Ghazal confirmed at a press briefing on Saturday morning.

They did not specify the nature of these discussions, nor whether the objective was to force him to apologize or exclude him from the caucus.

“At the moment, we are having internal discussions with Mr. Bouazzi on his statements,” Mr. Bouazzi limited himself to saying.^me Ghazal.

“We still take note of the reactions, the comments which followed the broadcast of Haroun’s speech. This is the subject of internal discussions […] and it’s private,” added Mr. Nadeau-Dubois.

Last week, before the Club Avenir Foundation, Mr. Bouazzi said that the debates in the National Assembly contributed to the construction of “this Other […] and its culture which […] would be dangerous or inferior.”

He was publicly rebuffed on Thursday by Mr. Nadeau-Dubois and Mr.^me Ghazal, who found these remarks “clumsy and exaggerated”, but still decided to add more the next day in an interview with -.

He particularly targeted the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) and the Parti Québécois (PQ).

Friday evening, as the virtual congress of Québec solidaire (QS) opened, Mr. Nadeau-Dubois launched an appeal for calm, deploring that Mr. Bouazzi had been bombarded with hateful messages.

He suggested on Saturday that QS could file a complaint with the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM).

“Major” reform of the statutes

QS delegates are meeting in a special congress this weekend to elect Ruba Ghazal as female co-spokesperson and review the party’s statutes, which date from 2006.

According to Mr. Nadeau-Dubois, it is a question of making “an update on our activist machine […] so that it is well oiled” for the 2026 general election.

“It’s not a small bathroom renovation we’re doing; It’s a major renovation of the entire Québec Solidaire building,” he declared.

The proposed changes are 81 pages long.

On Saturday afternoon, the delegates voted so that one year after the elections, the co-spokespeople would be elected by universal suffrage, that is to say by all the members of the party.

Members will also choose at this time which of the spokespersons will be the “leader” of the party within the meaning of the electoral law. Currently, it is the general secretary of QS who has this legal status of “leader”.

This change will allow QS to comply with the requirements of the Director General of Elections of Quebec (DGEQ) for holding leadership campaigns.

Then, a year before the election, members will choose which of the spokespeople can run as aspiring prime minister and participate in the leaders’ debates.

This person aspiring prime minister will automatically be made parliamentary leader, in particular to give them more visibility in the media.

These changes are intended to increase donations, recruitment of members and the influence of these members within the party, according to QS president Roxane Milot.

The virtual conference continues until Sunday.

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

Québec Solidaire’s attempts to make its adversaries inaccessible are no longer acceptable to the population.

This is what PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said 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 was hostile to immigrants.

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

According to Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon, QS’s dishonest and recurring process of inventing comments from its opponents to signal its virtue on false grounds no longer works in Quebec.

Mr. Bouazzi’s statements are strictly speaking a defamatory technique, according to the leader of the PQ, who however does not intend to take legal action.

Patrice Bergeron, The Canadian Press