The opposition parties unanimously denounced the Prime Minister’s “inappropriate” remarks on Wednesday, Francois Legault, during discussions about Joyce Echaquan, this Atikamekw woman who died a year ago under racist insults from the Joliette hospital staff.
The Liberal leader, Dominique Anglade, demanded an apology from Mr. Legault. “It deeply disappointed and angered me”, also declared the solidarity Manon Massé, who left the Salon Bleu in full session on Tuesday. PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said he found the exchange “inappropriate” and “aggressive”.
In response, the Prime Minister criticized the oppositions for “playing petty politics”.
On Tuesday, he answered a question about Joyce Echaquan at the Salon Bleu by denouncing a video of Liberal MP Greg Kelley. Mr. Legault reproached him for “Make an amalgam” between the Atikamekw woman and bill 96 on the French language.
In the video, which dates back to June, Mr. Kelley attacks the bills on theimmigration and the secularism of the state, before denouncing the government’s refusal to recognize systemic racism in the wake of the death of Joyce Echaquan. “And let me add some more,” he said. [Il y a] Bill 96, where the notwithstanding clause is still used to restrict and take away rights. “
In Mr. Legault’s opinion, the connection made by Mr. Kelley is “odious”. “As Premier of Quebec, I could not let that go,” he insisted.
To journalists who asked him if the time and the platform were appropriate, he replied by recalling that he had already answered a series of questions about Ms. Echaquan before. “If there is anyone who has instrumentalized the anniversary of [la mort de] Mrs Echaquan, it is [l’élu solidaire] Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and Dominique Anglade, ”he said. “When they suggest that if I do not recognize systemic racism, I am racist, it is they who are playing petty politics,” he also said.
During the commemoration ceremony in memory of Ms. Echaquan, speakers repeatedly returned to the need for government to recognize systemic racism. However, “there is a large part of Quebecers who say that there is none, a racist system”, underlined Mr. Legault. He encouraged Quebeckers to “respect” and “work together to fight racism”.
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