Canada PoliticsHead of Montreal Muslim Council decries PQ candidates’ discriminatory comments
The head of the Muslim Council of Montreal, is concerned about, what he calls, the "discriminatory" comments of some Parti Quebecois candidates in this election campaign.
In an interview with Yahoo Canada News over the weekend, Salam Elmenyawi discussed several recent incidences.
We talked about the PQ candidate for Lafontaine, Jean Carriere, who was forced to resign after a reporter found an old Facebook post of his which included an image of a half-naked woman with text that read "F#$% Islam."
Elmenyawi brought-up Gouin candidate Louise Mailloux who — according to the Montreal Gazette — had once described baptism and circumcision as rape and claimed kosher and halal foods fund religious wars.
And then he cited this story from CJAD Radio:
Shawinigan PQ candidate André Beaudoin, in an interview published today in Le Nouvelliste,...said he's worried reasonable accommodation requests from Muslims could hurt Quebec's economy.
"In Muslim countries," he said, "life stops on Friday afternoons and prayers are done seven times a day."
"We see this in countries like France, who are faced with this reality," Beaudoin added. "It (prayer) becomes a fundamental right and that creates important economic and social problems."
"If this isn't racism against religious minorities, what is?," Elmenyawi said.
"This is the kind of mindset of many people in the Parti Quebecois."
[ Related: PQ makes waves with values charter as Quebec campaign enters home stretch ]
Elmenyawi says that by not speaking out against the "discriminatory comments" within her own party, leader Pauline Marois is justifying it.
He says that the PQ outbursts will have ramifications within the general population of Quebec.
"What worries me [is] the action of the PQ, using the Charters Value to legitimize discrimination. It has made the discrimination mainstream," Elmenyawi said.
"We have so many Muslim women [who] have been discriminated against in the streets, in the [subway], in jobs."
[ Related: Couillard’s skeletons, Quebec identity the hot button issues at final leaders’ debate ]
Elmenyawi says that his group will fight the Values Charter, will speak-out against discriminatory comments, but will otherwise stay silent during this election campaign.
Citing recent polls showing that the Liberals could win the election, Elmenyawi said "If you find your enemies destroying themselves by themselves, don't interfere."
The election takes place next Monday, April 7.
(Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press)
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