Why some say Quebec politicians helped fuel the racism they unanimously denounced

Valid critique:

Amid all the debates and disagreements leading up to the end of the short spring session at the National Assembly this week, there was one issue that recently united Quebec’s MNAs. 

In a rare move, four political parties tabled four separate motions last week denouncing a gathering in Shawinigan, Que., captured in a photo, during which more than a dozen masked white nationalists held a banner that read, “Je me souviens d’un Québec blanc,” French for “I remember a white Quebec.”

The motions — tabled by the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), Québec Solidaire, the Quebec Liberal Party, and the Parti Québécois (PQ) — were passed unanimously. 

The condemnation was swift.

But observers — as well as some Quebec MNAs — have since pointed out that rhetoric from the province’s political class in recent years helped contribute to the behaviour it was denouncing.

“This is not something that [happened] in a vacuum,” said Frédéric Boisrond, a sociologist and author who follows Quebec politics. 

“This is something that has been growing like a tumour for years.”…

Source: Why some say Quebec politicians helped fuel the racism they unanimously denounced