Quebec politician offers mea culpa for comments on racism in provincial legislature

By The Canadian Press on November 19, 2024.

MONTREAL – A Quebec legislature member says he doesn’t think his colleagues at the national assembly are racist, as his party prepares to face criticism from all sides for controversial comments he made earlier this month.

Haroum Bouazzi says he will remain a member of the left-leaning Québec solidaire caucus in a social media statement published after an emergency caucus meeting this morning.

Three parties, including the governing Coalition Avenir Québec, will table motions at the legislature this afternoon denouncing remarks Bouazzi made during a speech to a community group.

In his speech, Bouazzi said he regularly sees the national assembly construct an image of minority groups, including Muslims and Indigenous people, as “dangerous or inferior.”

The CAQ motion calls on Bouazzi to withdraw his remarks and apologize to all members of the legislature.

Québec solidaire’s leadership has said Bouazzi’s comments were “clumsy, exaggerated and polarizing.”