A Quebec Solidaire MNA is facing criticism for a controversial comment.
Catherine Dorion compared a Quebec City infrastructure project to using cocaine.
Dorion, the MNA for Taschereau, made the comments in a four-minute Facebook video that has amassed more than 200,000 views.
The video is titled "Le troisieme lien c'est comme une ligne de coke."
In it, she criticizes the project – known in English as the 'Third Link' - a proposal discussed and debated for years by officials in Quebec City.
The project involves the addition of a bridge or tunnel that would link Quebec City to the South Shore.
But according to Dorion, the project is comparable to snorting a line of coke.
“People say ‘I’ll take this, I’ll be less drunk and I’ll have energy.’ An hour later, what happens? You have to do another line of coke,” the MNA says in the video.
Dorion and Quebec Solidaire are arguing against the project, saying it will only encourage urban sprawl and won’t, in the end, solve the traffic issue.
Party co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois defended his candidate, saying she’s simply shaking things up.
“You know, a lot of people have said for years now that politics has become boring, that politicians are all alike, that they speak like robots,” Nadeau-Dubois said Friday. “I think it’s very refreshing to see Catherine coming here in the National Assembly, speaking her mind and telling it like it is.”
“That approach, I think, will bring a new energy to Quebec’s politics. I think her metaphor was original – and let’s say a little bit risky – but it’s still a good thing to see young people coming into politics and changing the way we talk,” he added.
