Quebec City municipal party calls Islam ‘cancer’ but election agency says it can’t intervene
Global News
Alongside policy on drinking water and transportation, the political platform of Alliance Citoyenne Québec calls Islam a 'cancer that is slowly growing inside Quebec society.'
A fringe Quebec City municipal party’s platform describes Islam as a “cancer,” and the province’s elections commission says it doesn’t have the power to do anything about it.
Quebec will hold provincewide municipal elections on Nov. 7, and Elections Quebec confirmed on Monday it received a hate speech complaint regarding the political platform of the Alliance Citoyenne Québec party.
Agency spokesperson Julie St-Arnaud, however, said Monday the independent office isn’t able to intervene. There isn’t a law in Quebec that addresses the content of political platforms and the agency doesn’t have the power to ban a party or candidate over accusations of hate speech, she said.
“We do not look at the ideas of the parties; we act impartially,” St-Arnaud said in an interview. “There is nothing in our laws that says if a person makes statements of such nature, his candidacy is withdrawn. It is up to the voters to make their choices when the time comes on the ballot.”
Neither the province’s minister responsible for fighting racism nor the municipal affairs minister responded to requests seeking comment.
Alongside policy on drinking water and transportation, the political platform of Alliance Citoyenne Québec calls Islam a “cancer that is slowly growing inside Quebec society” and a religion that is “contrary to the fundamental values of Quebec.”
Party head Alain Giasson said Monday the complaint against his platform is unfounded and there is no place for a law in Quebec that would censure such remarks. His predecessor, Daniel Brisson, received 0.61 per cent of the vote in the 2018 Quebec City municipal election.
“It’s a legitimate debate but unfortunately, people are afraid to talk about it,” Giasson said about Islam.