Last week, the Quebec minister for fighting racism, Benoit Charette, was booed at the Montreal vigil for the family murdered in London, Ontario. Quebecor columnists* have since described this as anti‑Quebec hate – as Toula Drimonis says here, “as if the people booing are not Quebecers, too.” Her latest CultMTL piece is an excellent dissection of the current state of official and unofficial Islamophobia in Quebec.
To quote more Toula: “It’s true that English Canada can often be quick at the draw to attack Quebec and to misconstrue what happens in this province as motivated by racism and intolerance. It’s equally true that Quebec politicians and pundits often sidestep or derail legitimate criticism or needed debates by labeling it ‘Quebec bashing.’ ”
*Martineau and MBC. I’m not linking to them, it’s not hard to google what they had to say.
Chris 23:35 on 2021-06-15 Permalink
Wow, that article is really shoddy. I’m not familiar with the site or author, is it supposed to be an opinion piece or hard news? (It confusingly says “editorial, news” at the top.)
For one, she seems to (deliberately or not I wonder?) conflate Islam and Muslims:
«A poll conducted by Leger Marketing showed a direct link between support for Bill 21 and anti-Muslim sentiment. “Negative feelings about Islam, were, in fact, shown to be the main motivation behind this support.”»
The part *she* put in quotes does *not* appear in the source she linked. Closest is: “Among those who have negative feelings about Islam, 88 per cent support a ban on religious symbols…” That is *not* the same thing as it being the “main motivation”. It’s not even necessarily causal at all. Basic logic fail.
And having “negative feelings about Islam” says no more about one’s feelings towards Muslims as having “negative feelings about capitalism” says about one’s feelings towards capitalists. One can hate the ideology and not hate the people. Yet she interchanges the terms from one sentence to the next.
It all reads very much like someone working backwards, trying to support an agenda.
This whole “Islamophobia” thing is so overblown. Canada is a much better and safer place to be Muslim than any Muslim-majority country. I liked Raheel Raza’s take on CBC Power & Politics the other day (fast forward to 50:09, she talks about 10 minutes).
SMD 03:59 on 2021-06-16 Permalink
The Gazette article she links to has this as a quote, from the president of the association that ordered the poll:
Seems pretty clear to me. Her editorial stands well on its own, and reflects the tensions that I see on the ground.
steph 07:38 on 2021-06-16 Permalink
As many identify as Quebecois but not Canadians, I identify as a Montrealer and not Quebecois. As a Montrealer I boo him too.
qatzelok 09:16 on 2021-06-16 Permalink
“as if the people booing are not Quebecers, too.” – Drimonis
“I identify as a Montrealer” – Steph
Kate 09:23 on 2021-06-16 Permalink
qatzelok, it’s how Steph feels, which is not the same thing as what they actually are.
Chris somehow manages to entirely miss the point of Toula’s piece.
Kevin 10:33 on 2021-06-16 Permalink
Only certain members of an ethnic group qualify to be Quebecois, and it’s remarkably easy to be cast out of this group. I thought that was obvious?
Marc T 11:07 on 2021-06-16 Permalink
To Chris
“This whole “Islamophobia” thing is so overblown. Canada is a much better and safer place to be Muslim than any Muslim-majority country.”
There’s so much wrong with this statement it’s hard to know where to begin. Let’s start with the fact that you’re painting the Muslim world as a monolith, which in and of itself is Islamophobic. A Muslim in Turkey and a Muslim in Saudi Arabia face two very distinct realities. Indonesia is the world’s most populated Muslim country while the Indonesian-Canadian population is the smallest Asian community in Canada. Is it possible Indonesians feel safe in their country and would prefer not to move to Canada?
It is true that there are many Muslim-majority countries that face instability. They all have something in common: a century of Western intervention and imperialism. Starting with Britain and France, and continuing with the US (and junior partners like Canada), the West has gone into country after country and decimated secular nationalist movements by propping up right-wing Islamists. We have literally killed off popular secular movements, creating havoc in country after country, and then have the gall to be self-righteous about Canada being a “much better and safer place to be Muslim.”
I could go on but I don’t want to bore people with non-Montreal related ranting.
JaneyB 11:49 on 2021-06-16 Permalink
@Chris – I agree that it’s important to distinguish between Islam and Muslims. Lots of people, both in QC and Canada, have real reservations about Islam’s fit with the modern world eg: women, gays, religious pluralism etc. Those same people often have no problem at all with their Muslim friends, co-workers, and neighbours. The political rhetoric on the other hand, typically avoids making that distinction meaning that non-Muslims find it grating that their worries about women’s status etc are brushed off as islamophobia/racism. Indeed, I’m sure there are plenty of imams (in other countries) who don’t think modern values work well with being a good Muslim so it’s not like Cdn/Qc reservations unfounded or knee-jerk racism. Discussion about the integration of Muslims in the Canadian family would really, really benefit from greater nuance. Of course Bill 21 and Quebec is adding several other heated debates around religious piety and national lineage as well as accessing historic deep wells of xenophobia.