Quebec has its share of extreme right groups and trash radio that spew out hate against immigrants, particularly Muslims.
Citizens gathered at the Quebec mosque. Credit: Alexandre Duval
Montreal: Sunday evening seemed headed for a quiet end when a news headline caught my eyes as I was getting off the internet: there had been a deadly shooting in a mosque in Quebec (City), the capital of the French-speaking Canadian province, Quebec.
When I conveyed the information to my French-Canadian partner, he said, “It’s terrible, but unfortunately not that surprising. There have been these radio stations doing anti-Muslim propaganda and spewing hate for ages.”
He was referring to what some call “la radio-poubelle” (trash radio), like CHOI-FM, that fill the airwaves with blood, gore, sex scandals, while denouncing the Left, intellectuals, the bureaucracy and immigrants, particularly Muslims.
The shooting that killed six, gravely injured five and affected 12 others took place at 7:45 pm on Sunday, January 29. Soon after, Philippe Couillard, the prime minister of Quebec, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and Régis Labeaume, the mayor, issued statements. Around 12:45 pm, Quebec citizens spontaneously assembled in front of the mosque and several supportive hashtags sprung up on Twitter.
By next morning, a notice for a vigil in Montreal had appeared on Facebook and by 10 am, 8,700 said they planned to attend. There were many shares. Someone had put up a map on the same page announcing vigils in many provincial towns – Sherbrooke, Boucherville, Québec City, Saguenay, Trois-Rivières – in Quebec, as well as in Ontario, and even Paris and Hong Kong.
The killings appear to be the work of what has become the typical “lone wolf” killer. Alexandre Bissonnette, 27, described as having “pro-Le Pen and anti-feminist positions”, was charged with six counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder while using a restricted firearm.
Many racist incidents have taken place in Canada post Donald Trump’s win in the US presidential election and there has been a temptation to point south.“… I hold Trump partly responsible,” said MP Amir Khadir, who represents Québec Solidaire, a Quebec Left party most sympathetic to immigrants.
Others pointed out that this might be too facile. A post on Facebook said, “Islamophobia, racism and xenophobia live here in Québec, so let’s refrain from pointing the finger south of the border and blame others for that which we are responsible. It’s time we all stood up and denounced this hatred.”