Premier François Legault said Thursday there is no Islamophobia in Quebec, closing the door on the idea of designating a national day to combat the problem.
On Tuesday, the second anniversary of a mosque shooting that killed six Muslim men in Quebec City, his deputy premier Geneviève Guilbault appeared open to the idea of a national day to combat Islamophobia, which had been proposed by Muslim groups.
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“Geneviève was careful in saying that we were going to look at that,” Legault told reporters at the end of a caucus meeting in Gatineau, Que. “We looked at it, and there won’t be any, that’s clear.”
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As for why, he said simply: “Listen, I don’t think there is Islamophobia in Quebec.” After the news conference, a press aide told media the premier meant to say, “there is no current of Islamophobia in Quebec.”
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The topic remains sensitive in Quebec, which continues to grapple with a debate over accommodating minority religions. Legault has promised legislation early in the next legislative session to prohibit public servants in positions of authority — police officers, judges, prosecutors, prison guards and teachers — from wearing religious symbols such as the hijab, turban and kippa.
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In Ottawa, the Commons heritage committee recommended last year that Jan. 29 be declared a “national day of remembrance and action on Islamophobia and other forms of religious discrimination.”
Toronto Mayor John Tory announced this week that the city was proclaiming Jan. 29 a day of remembrance and action on Islamophobia.