No public money in Quebec for drag queens, says Duhaime

Quebec City -

The state should not pay for drag queens' activities, nor prevent children from working, said Eric Duhaime, during a two-topic press conference on Thursday.

The Conservative leader was in Quebec City to call for the withdrawal of Bill 19, which sets a minimum age of 14 to work in Quebec and imposes a limit on the number of hours that can be worked between the ages of 14 and 16.

"It is the parents who are best placed to guide their children when they enter the labour market," said Duhaime, who reiterated that the government is not a "mother."

"Work is also about learning, it's about gaining experience, it's about taking a child out of isolation sometimes. We know that the last three years in Quebec have been particularly difficult," he said.

Duhaime was accompanied by a father, Frédéric Paré, whose 12-year-old daughter delivers meal trays in a seniors' residence. Paré described the bill as "totalitarian".

"On Sept. 1, she will lose her job. My daughter is not happy, she is definitely unhappy about what will happen," he said. "She's not in danger, and she's going to lose her job."

"She's going to do what? She's doomed to tap away on her damn device, that's what she's going to do. (...) The work, it forced her to leave the house, it forced her to socialize," he added.

Duhaime denounced the "unanimity" in the national assembly, where the bill was well received, especially for reasons of health and safety and school retention.

NO PUBLIC MONEY FOR DRAG QUEENS

On another note, when asked about a motion in the national assembly regarding drag queens, the Conservative leader said that the state should not fund activities featuring them.

The motion emphasized that drag queens should not, under any circumstances, face violent insults, intolerance and hatred for their participation in children's storytelling.

Last Sunday, the city of Sainte-Catherine had to move the location of a children's storytelling event by drag queen Barbada due to the presence of protesters who were opposed to the activity.

Duhaime said the state should simply not "interfere" in this debate.

"It's a moral issue, it's burlesque, it can even be vulgar, drag queens, in any case, the shows I saw, it was that," he said.

"Should we ban activities featuring them from public places? They can take place, as long as "people pay for it, that it is not the taxpayers' money that is involved," Duhaime said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 6, 2023.