Québec Solidaire still split over Haroun Bouazzi controversy

Québec solidaire finance critic Haroun Bouazzi speaks after the tabling of the provincial budget, at the legislature in Quebec City, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. A Quebec MNA says he doesn’t believe members of the provincial legislature are racist, even as his party prepares to face criticism from all sides for controversial comments he made earlier this month. (Jacques Boissinot /The Canadian Press)

The unease is still palpable within Québec Solidaire after MNA Haroun Bouazzi's comments on alleged racism at the National Assembly, despite the party’s leaders wanting to put the controversy behind them.

Asked if the story was over, QS’s Christine Labrie replied without hesitation: “No.”

The same question elicited a half-hearted “yes” from her colleague Sol Zanetti.

Vincent Marissal said the situation made him emotional. “Yesterday was honestly the worst day of my political life since I've been here,” he said.

“It's difficult to do my job in these times, so I'm asking for maturity. I'm calling for hard work and professionalism. Let's stop getting bogged down in unrelated sideshows ... This is a message to all the MNAs: when you get your party into trouble, it doesn't help anyone. And Haroun has heard us,” he added.

Marissal would not say whether he still had confidence in Bouazzi, simply stating that he was still a member of the caucus.

Bouazzi is at the centre of a controversy after claiming that “every day” at the National Assembly he sees “the construction of this Other” whose culture “would be dangerous or inferior.”

He was called to order by the party's two spokespersons, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and Ruba Ghazal. Despite this, the MNA doubled down in an interview with Radio-Canada, calling out ministers Christian Dubé and Lionel Carmant as well as PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, among others.

On Tuesday, Bouazzi apologized for his “clumsiness” toward Dubé and Carmant, saying that he did not “consider the National Assembly and its members to be racist.”

His apology did not satisfy the opposition parties, who joined forces on Tuesday and each tabled a motion denouncing Bouazzi’s original comments.

QS MNA Andrés Fontecilla said on Wednesday that he had “sensed a lot of hostility” and that there had “perhaps been a little bit of aggression” towards his colleague. “I hope we can move on,” he said, adding that he believed the caucus was united.

Ghazal, recently named female co-spokesperson, explained that the caucus had emerged “united behind a strong and important position.”

Ghazal did not close the door on the possibility of relieving Mr Bouazzi of his caucus responsibilities, in particular as finance spokesperson. “I have nothing to announce today. There are going to be discussions about reshuffling the files,” she told journalists.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 20, 2024.