MONTREAL - Quebec Premier Francois Legault has clarified a statement he made in which he insisted Islamophobia does not exist in his province.
The National Council of Canadian Muslims called on Legault to retract the comments, which came two days after the second anniversary of a mosque shooting that killed six Muslim men in Quebec City.
On Thursday Legault said there is no Islamophobia in Quebec -- and no need to designate a national day to combat the problem.
But yesterday his office sought to clarify those comments, saying the premier meant to say that Islamophobia exists but it's not widespread.
N-C-C-M executive director Ihsaan Gardee described Legault's initial comment as an insult to the families of the Quebec City victims and to Muslim communities across Canada.
Boufeldja Benabdallah, the president of the Quebec City mosque targeted in 2017, says he fears Legault's comments will encourage the small minority of people who commit Islamophobic acts.
