The Québec Solidaire congress overshadowed by the “Bouazzi affair”

Forty-eight hours later, Québec solidaire (QS) has not yet turned the page on the controversy linked to the comments of Montreal MP Haroun Bouazzi on the subject of racism in the National Assembly.

Questioned on the subject at a press briefing this morning, the party’s male spokesperson, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, and MP Ruba Ghazal, who will be crowned female spokesperson this evening, said that the discussions surrounding the fate to be reserved for Mr. Bouazzi continued at the party caucus.

Could the member for Maurice-Richard be excluded from the parliamentary group? Neither Mr. Nadeau-Dubois nor Ms. Ghazal wanted to answer the question, repeating that the discussions at the caucus were strictly confidential.

We are still having discussions at the moment and I will not reveal the nature of the discussions to you.notably responded the member for Mercier to a question from the media on this subject which is, to say the least, thorny for QS.

We still take note of the reactions, the comments which followed the broadcast of Haroun’s speechhowever added Mr. Nadeau-Dubois.

Haroun Bouazzi has been in the hot seat since a column in The Montreal Journalpublished Thursday, highlighted remarks made by the MP during a gala organized at the beginning of the month by the Club Avenir Foundation, a OSBL working for the integration of Maghreb communities into the host society.

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 inferiorhe declared, in particular.

These remarks – which had been applauded the same evening, but from which the Club Avenir Foundation subsequently dissociated itself – were quickly condemned by the political adversaries of QSbut also by party spokespersons, who described them as clumsy andexaggerated.

Since then, the main person concerned has granted only one interview, to the Montreal show All one morningon ICI Première, during which he defended himself by saying that he had not Never treated person of racist and that he wanted, during his speech, to make pedagogy of the mechanisms of racism.

He also took the opportunity to denounce comments made by the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, and the Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant, in recent weeks and which, according to him, illustrate the construction of this other that he fights.

The interview, rather than putting a lid on the pot, added fuel to the fire: in a press briefing held yesterday evening, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois launched an appeal for calm, deploring that Mr. Bouazzi had received many hateful messages since Thursday.

At a press briefing this morning, he also judged fort probable that the party officially file a complaint with the Montreal Police Service (SPVM) on this subject.

Dust off the statuses QS

This affair casts a shadow over the special congress of QS on the modernization of the party statutes, which continues until tomorrow in virtual mode.

This gathering will notably be the opportunity to crown Ruba Ghazal as female spokesperson, this evening, at the Agora du Cœur des sciences de laUQAM. We will know at this time what level of support the MP’s candidacy has garnered, with party delegates also having the opportunity to vote so that the chair remains empty.

Of course I would have liked it to happen differentlyrecognized the main interested party this morning, in reference to the fact that theBouazzi affair casts shadow over his election. Especially since the debate surrounding the comments of the member for Maurice-Richard affects her personally, she admitted.

For me, it’s something that I’m proud of, that I put a lot of emphasis on: the fact that I’m a child of Bill 101, who learned French in Quebec, that I integrated into Quebec. My story is not an exception; It’s a story that we see a lot, a lot in Quebec.

The revision of the statutes of QS could in turn mean that one of the two spokespersons of the party could possibly become its leader within the meaning of the law, a function which is currently devolved to the secretary general of the national coordination committee, Benjamin Gingras.

It could also lead to the abolition of collectives, including that of Option nationale.