Quebec party supports member who accused fellow politicians of denigrating minorities

Quebec Solidaire co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, left, arrives at a news conference with local candidate Haroun Bouazzi while campaigning Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022 in Montreal. (Ryan Remiorz / The Canadian Press)

A Quebec political party has voted to support one of its members facing backlash for saying that racialized people are regularly disparaged at the provincial legislature.

Québec solidaire members adopted an emergency resolution at the party's convention late Sunday condemning the hate directed at Haroun Bouazzi, without endorsing his comments.

Bouazzi, who represents a Montreal riding, has faced criticism for a speech delivered recently before Fondation Club Avenir, a community group that works with immigrants.

“God knows I see this in the national assembly every day, the construction of this other, this other who is North African, who is Muslim, who is Black, who is Indigenous, and whose culture, by definition, would be dangerous or inferior,” Bouazzi told the crowd.

Other political parties said Bouazzi's remarks labelled elected officials as racists, and the co-leaders of his own party rebuked him for his "clumsy and exaggerated" comments.

Eleven Québec solidaire constituency associations publicly supported Bouazzi, and called on the party to adopt a resolution denouncing what they described as a smear campaign against him. After a closed-door debate, the resolution approved during Sunday's meeting had been rewritten by the party, and balanced the interests of those who supported Bouazzi and others who wanted to distance Québec solidaire from his comments.

Bouazzi, who has said he never intended to describe his colleagues as racist, thanked his party for their support and for their commitment to the fight against systemic racism.

"I am very happy that the delegates of Québec solidaire have reaffirmed the party's commitment to the fight against systemic racism and that they unambiguously condemn the unjustified instrumentalization of immigrants in the public debate," he wrote on X. "I thank them for condemning the defamation campaign against me."

Party co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois told reporters after Sunday's meeting that he considers the matter to be closed. And Ruba Ghazal, the newly named female co-spokesperson, added, "Québec solidaire has never maintained that the national assembly and its members are racist."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2024.