Bloc blasts opponent of bill criticizing "racist" WaPo article

A pedestrian walks by Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. (Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

A Bloc Quebecois MP said she is “ashamed” of a colleague who voted against a motion condemning “hateful remarks” aimed at the province in a recent Washington Post op-ed piece.

The article in question appeared in the Wednesday edition of the newspaper. Written by Vancouver-based political commentator J.J. McCullough, the author attempted to understand why so many mass shootings occur in Quebec.

McCullough argued that, among other things, English-speakers in the rest of Canada have reason to point to the province for producing a disproportionate amount of shooters, citing the killing of Corporal Denis Lortie in the National Assembly in 1984 and, more recently, the 2006 shooting in Dawson College.

The author concluded by saying Canadians on the political left should question what effect multiculturalism has had on Quebec.

Monique Pauze, MP for the riding of Repentigny, introduced the motion denouncing the article, calling it “racist.”

She said she could not understand why Conservative MP Bernard Genereux, who is from Quebec, voted against the motion.