MONTREAL -- Quebec is ready for a 'quiet evolution' to combat racism, Quebec Premier Francois Legault said Monday.
"We can't just make nice speeches -- we have to act," Legault told reporters at the start of his COVID-19 press briefing Monday afternoon in Montreal.
"You know, in Quebec we had what came to be known as 'the quiet revolution' - a period of significant social and political upheaval that transformed Quebec society in the 1960s and early 1970s, Legault said.
"I think we are ready now in Quebec for a 'quiet evolution,'" Legault said, reiterating his pledge to soon put forward a plan to combat racism in the province.
Legault has been widely criticized in recent weeks for not conceding that systemic racism exists in Quebec. He said arguing over the term is just semantics.
"I don't understand why people are trying to stick on one word. I think what is important is to say and all agree that there is some racism in Quebec, and we don't want that anymore," Legault said on Monday.
And while he again would not go so far as to acknowledge on Monday that there is systemic racism in Quebec, he said he was moved by listening to Black Quebecers' testimonials in recent weeks - including some from Black ministers in his own cabinet, such as Nadine Girault, Lionel Carmant and Christopher Skeete.
"The vast majority of Quebecers are not racists," Legault said. "We have to be clear - we are not here to put all Quebecers on trial - but there is undoubtedly racism in Quebec."
In order to eradicate racism in the province, Quebecers need to work together and avoid divisions, Legault said. "We are all equal - no exceptions," he said.
Legault said he understands that people are fed up with racism and shocked and angered by the death of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of white police officers in Minneapolis last month.
That anger and frustration is one of the reasons why his government has not done anything to limit protests against racism and racial profiling by police in recent weeks, Legault said, despite the possible public-health ramifications of such mass gatherings during a pandemic.
Legault noted that francophones and women in Quebec have made advances to overcome discrimination, and he said the same must happen for racial minorities.
Demonstrators Sunday said Legault's refusal to acknowledge the systemic nature of racism -- biases, policies and practices entrenched in institutions -- is missing the bigger picture.
Fo Niemi, executive director of the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations, a civil rights advocacy group, said it is important to recognize that racism isn't always direct and can be subtle.
Niemi noted that courts have recognized systemic discrimination and systemic racism for more than three decades, but there's a level of intellectual confusion surrounding it.
"Systemic racism is not a general indictment of a society as a whole, and it's important to stop using systemic as a tool to generalize or accuse an entire society in a sweeping manner," Niemi said.
With files from The Canadian Press.
