(Quebec) Québec Solidaire blocked a motion on Tuesday to defend its MP Haroun Bouazzi, who suggests that the CAQ government is complicit with Israel in war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.
The Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, tabled this motion where the National Assembly dissociated itself from any comments insinuating that the government of Quebec is complicit in “crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and genocide”.
The parliamentary leader of QS, Alexandre Leduc, refused his consent to debate it.
This motion followed controversial remarks made by Mr. Bouazzi last week on the X network.
He asserted that by opening a Quebec office to do business in Israel, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) “makes us complicit in a far-right government which accumulates war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and which has started a genocidal process a few months ago.
The B’nai Brith organization, which defends the Jewish community in Quebec, associated this statement with incitement to hatred and asked the MP on Tuesday to withdraw it.
The parliamentary leader of QS, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, said he agreed in substance with Mr. Bouazzi, who for his part refused to comment.
“All it does is fuel incitement to hatred towards the Jewish population of Quebec and it’s dangerous, it should not be launched in the public sphere, especially when someone is an elected official , an MP, declared the Quebec regional director of B’nai Brith, Henry Topas, in an interview with The Canadian Press broadcast Tuesday. This is not wise. »
Because the population observes elected officials and learns lessons on how to behave and what can be said, noted Mr. Topas. MPs must therefore act responsibly.
The B’nai Brith spokesperson, however, does not consider the remarks to be anti-Semitic and does not ask for an apology.
At a press conference on another issue at the National Assembly, Mr. Bouazzi refused to answer.
The QS press officer argued that there was a lack of time in the press conference which focused on pensions for disabled people, even though the opening speeches had lasted more than 25 minutes and there was no only two journalists at the press conference.
“For the respect of all these people who have been fighting for 25 years, it is their day, we are going to invite you to stay on the subject,” said Mr. Bouazzi.
In a press scrum Tuesday morning, the parliamentary leader of QS, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, indicated that he would have written the message differently but that he basically agreed with his MP.
“When I saw such comments, I found that it went beyond the limits, that it went beyond the limits, that it was unjustifiable, but I will let Québec solidaire govern itself,” said the interim leader of the liberal opposition , Marc Tanguay, whose deputies represent a good part of the Jewish community in Montreal.
reference: www.lapresse.ca