MONTREAL — Amid heavy criticism across party lines, an opposition member of the provincial legislature is not backing down from comments that his fellow lawmakers say painted them as racist.

Haroun Bouazzi of Québec solidaire has been criticized this week for a speech delivered recently before a community group that works with immigrants.

He told the audience that every day in the national assembly he witnesses “the construction of the other” — which he described as a perception that the cultures of people who are North African, Muslim, Black or Indigenous are dangerous and inferior.

Other political parties said Bouazzi’s remarks equated to labelling members of the national assembly as racist, and there have been calls for him to be sanctioned.

The co-leaders of Bouazzi’s left-leaning Québec solidaire rebuked him on Thursday, saying his comments were “clumsy and exaggerated.”

Bouazzi explained on Thursday that he was trying to express his concern over the daily discourse at the national assembly, which he said seems to point fingers at immigrants and newcomers as the source of many of Quebec’s problems.

In a radio interview Friday, Bouazzi remained unapologetic and singled out members of the governing Coalition Avenir Québec and opposition Parti Québécois, who he said blamed immigration for social ills.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024.

The Canadian Press