Controversial remarks | Bouazzi apologizes, the National Assembly condemns his remarks

(Quebec) Faced with increasing pressure and discordant voices within his political family, Haroun Bouazzi presented Tuesday on the X network an apology to ministers Christian Dubé and Lionel Carmant for what he describes as “clumsiness.” The National Assembly condemned comments which “harm living together”.

“On this day which promises to be difficult for the parliamentary wing of Québec solidaire, I would like to take the time to say certain important things. First of all, I reaffirm my commitment to working alongside my colleagues in the Solidarity Caucus, in the service of our movement and the causes it defends to improve people’s lives. In this sense, I join them in saying that I do not consider that the National Assembly and its members are racist and that this is not the position of the party,” writes the deputy from Maurice- Richard on the social network.

“Next, I would like to particularly assure my parliamentary colleagues Lionel Carmant and Christian Dubé of my esteem. The examples that concern them and that I spoke about during my interview at All one morning were certainly clumsy. I apologize for this clumsiness which eclipsed the substance of my words and my thoughts which, as my history of anti-racist commitment attests, has never consisted of targeting people,” he added, thanking once again the united members for their “righteousness and solidarity”.

Mr. Bouazzi’s exit left parliamentarians wanting more. “I am happy to see an evolution […]but with what he said, I think it is important that he apologizes to the National Assembly and to the Quebec population […] I think he must go further,” lamented Minister Lionel Carmant.

“It’s still unclear, it seems like Mr. Bouazzi is beating around the bush. Listen to the elected representatives in the National Assembly, they are not racist. We have 600,000 temporary immigrants, Quebec’s reception capacity is largely exceeded, so we have the right to say that there are too many immigrants without the member for Québec solidaire calling us racists,” argued his side the Prime Minister, François Legault.

“The outcome we wanted”

Spokespersons Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and Ruba Ghazal said Tuesday they had obtained “the outcome we wanted” with the apologies of their deputy on X. Haroun Bouazzi remains within the solidarity caucus and retains his functions as spokesperson in matter of economics.

“We will not do a word-for-word analysis of what was said, of what it meant. Basically, there is no ambiguity, there is no hesitation, there is no vagueness. At Québec solidaire, all the deputies clearly affirm that the National Assembly and its deputies are not racist,” explained Mr. Nadeau-Dubois during a press briefing before question period.

He assured that “the unity of the caucus is strong” while saying that Mr. Bouazzi’s statements caused “discomfort” in the ranks.

“The fact that there was discomfort […] on certain statements, certain turns of phrase, it would be useless and dishonest to try to hide it. But these discussions took place and we came out with a clear line, an agreement on the substance of things which was what our members asked us at the end of the week,” added Mr. Nadeau-Dubois, who affirms that “the line has been drawn.”

No MP from the political party wanted to speak to the media after the solidarity caucus.

A little earlier Tuesday, Christine Labrie wanted to distance herself from her colleague’s comments. “Haroun will make his own decisions. But what I can tell you is that his comments make me extremely uncomfortable. I do not share them and I want to state it very clearly,” launched the MP. On Saturday, Vincent Marissal said that there were “colleagues who are not happy and who have expressed it”.

At the end of a closed-door debate, the members of Québec solidaire, divided on the issue, found a way forward by adopting a motion which “does not support and has never supported that the National Assembly and its members are racist” and “strongly condemns the threats, violence and the defamation campaign directed against MP Haroun Bouazzi and offers him its support in the face of these circumstances”.

Solidarity deputy Andrès Fontecilla affirmed for his part Tuesday that the important thing remains “the unity of the caucus and respect for the motion adopted this weekend. »

The outraged political class

Elected officials from all political parties have one by one denounced the comments of the supportive MP. “I believe he must retract with a sincere apology afterwards if he does not believe in our institution, but it will be up to him to think about his political future,” said liberal Marwah Rizqy, visibly shaken.

“That Québec solidaire governs itself accordingly, but when we do not dissociate ourselves from the words of an elected official who is part of a caucus, it means that we contribute to achieving the reputation of democracy, of People’s House. […] This is not a political contest. The contempt that has been brought to Parliament is significant and we cannot let this precedent stand and say that the matter is closed,” she added.

“I am not angry, I am, I am shocked,” lamented the Minister responsible for the Fight against Racism, Christopher Skeete. “I am shocked that an elected official from this great institution could think that we are not all here for the same reasons, namely to move Quebec forward. I am shocked that an elected official walks around the community, and does not build bridges, tries to divide us and then strengthen what sets us apart instead of strengthening what brings us together,” he added.

Motions for Apology

The government’s parliamentary leader, Simon Jolin-Barrette, will table a motion at the Salon rouge without notice – that is to say without a day’s notice – to denounce the statements of the supportive MP. But he will go further by asking that he present an apology to the National Assembly. The Liberal Party of Quebec and the Parti Québécois will also use this parliamentary means.

Québec solidaire did not consent to the government’s motion which directly targeted the member for Maurice-Richard. However, the left-wing party accepted the liberal and PQ motions which were accepted.

During the debates, an elected official from each parliamentary group was able to speak on Mr. Bouazzi’s remarks. The latter was present and voted in favor of the texts.

Québec solidaire also presented a motion to condemn the violence and threats against Mr. Bouazzi, which was accepted by everyone.

During the Club Avenir Foundation gala in November, Haroun Bouazzi notably affirmed that he observed “at 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 his culture which, by definition, would be dangerous or inferior.” Comments immediately denounced by the entire Quebec political class.

He added a layer the next day in an interview with All one morning on - by implicating Christian Dubé and Lionel Carmant, the CAQ and the PQ. He criticized these groups for only worrying about the election of Donald Trump in the United States through the lens of the massive arrival of refugees. He criticized Mr. Dubé for attributing the lengthening of surgical waiting lists to immigrants.

“When I say daily, it’s daily,” said the deputy for Maurice-Richard at Patrick Masbourian’s microphone on Friday. “The last week, Mr. Carmant was in hot water, he explained to us, to a question, at the Salon Bleu, about the workers who slept with minors in the DPJ, and he ended up telling us: it’s the fault of immigrants,” said Mr. Bouazzi.

“The MP made false statements about me and my colleague Lionel Carmant. It is absolutely regrettable that he refuses to apologize,” replied Christian Dubé in a statement.

With Vincent Larin, The Press