Hampstead mayor refuses to apologize for equating secularism bill to 'ethnic cleansing'

CTV Montreal: Steinberg defiant Hampstead Mayor William Steinberg says he will not back down from calling Bill 21 ‘racist’ and equating it to ‘ethnic cleansing.’

The mayor of Hampstead is refusing to apologize for comments last week equating the province's secularism bill to "ethnic cleansing."

In a phone interview with CTV Montreal Tuesday afternoon, William Steinberg was defiant, saying he would not back down from a statement he made last Friday about Quebec's Bill 21 prohibiting religious symbols for teachers and some other public servants.

Steinberg accused the government of discriminating against religions whose adherents wear visible symbols.

“I do not apologize for saying that the effects of this bill will be peaceful ethnic cleansing,” he said on Tuesday.

Premier Francois Legault and several other provincial and municipal politicians have called on Steinberg to apologize.

“I think he has to apologize to all Quebecers,” said Legault.

Legault is appealing for calm as the province debates a bill that would prohibit public servants in positions of authority -- including teachers, police officers, Crown prosecutors and prison guards -- from wearing religious symbols on the job.

Even Liberal David Birnbaum, who opposes the Coalition Avenir Quebec bill and sent a representative to the news conference at which Steinberg made the remarks, called for an apology.

Montreal opposition leader Lionel Perez, who has been an outspoken critic of the bill, also said Steinberg crossed a line.

“When we think of ethnic cleansing, we think of Rwanda, Bosnia, we think of other in areas where there are actual killings, where people are killed simply because of their ethnicity or religion,” said Perez.

Steinberg blames his critics to taking his words out of context.

“The people asking me to apologize are looking at two words taken totally out of context, which is wrong. What people should be looking at is different words, words that are actually in Bill 21, and the effects of those words,” he said.

- With files from The Canadian Press