Attack on Quebec : one year after, the Commons, condemn the hate and islamophobia

Photo archive Annie T. Roussel

QMI agency

Monday, January 29, 2018 16:35

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Monday, January 29, 2018 16:35

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OTTAWA – A year to the day after the bombing of the great mosque of Quebec, the federal parliamentarians were honored on Monday the memory of the six murdered men advocating against hate and islamophobia in Canada.

“These six people died under the bullets of ignorance and hate – in the hands of islamophobia and racism, who will never have their place in our society”, said prime minister Justin Trudeau in the House of commons.

All the mps had earlier observed a minute of silence.

During his speech, Mr. Trudeau has chanted the names of the faithful killed at the islamic cultural Centre of Québec : Khaled Belkacemi, Azzedine Soufiane, Abdelkrim Hassane, Aboubaker Thabti, Mamadou Tanou Barry and Ibrahima Barry.

“We cannot bring back those who perished, but we owe it to them to fight the feelings that led to their loss”, he argued, condemning the acts of racism that persist in the country.

A before and after

“The attack of a year ago was a hate crime that took six innocent lives,” said the leader of the official opposition, Andrew Scheer. He recalled that the men murdered “in cold blood” this evening-there were fathers, sons, brothers and husbands who were doing nothing more than practicing their faith.

He strongly defended the freedom of religion, and the fact that Canada “must always be a place where believers of all faiths feel safe to celebrate their worship.”

Guy Caron, the parliamentary chief of the New democratic Party, has called on the population to draw lessons from the attack, insisting that there is “a before and an after mosque of Quebec.”

“Is that the speech have changed? Is it that the tone has gone down? The truth is that the actions of hate have not stopped, especially online. Especially on social networks. The street harassment – especially of muslim women – continues. And gestures violent place, yet all too often,” sorry Mr. Caron.

The Bloc québécois has hailed the memory of six men who have chosen Québec, who have made it their home” for the freedoms that the province has to offer. “We have the responsibility to respond to hatred with love, to the rejection of the other, solidarity, violence by the brotherhood,” argued the mp Xavier Barsalou-Duval.

Following the meeting, the prime minister Justin Trudeau had to fly to Quebec, as well as the leaders of conservative and néodémocrate, Andrew Scheer, and Jagmeet Singh, to participate in the evening at a vigil behind the church of Notre-Dame-de-Foy.

Rallies will also take place on Monday evening in the majority of large canadian cities.