QUEBEC CITY -- A question about two Quebec laws at Thursday night's English-language federal leaders debate was an unacceptable attack on the province, Premier Francois Legault said Friday.
In her first question to Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet, moderator Shachi Kurl described two Quebec laws -- one restricting the wearing of religious symbols by certain government employees, the other a language law reform -- as "discriminatory."
"You deny that Quebec has problems with racism, yet you defend legislation, such as bills 96 and 21, which marginalize religious minorities, anglophones and allophones," Kurl said in the preamble to her question.
That was an attack on the Quebec nation, Legault told reporters in Quebec City, adding that Kurl and the group of broadcasters that organized the debate need to apologize.
"That was an attack, for sure, against Quebec, against our responsibilities. I am responsible to protect French, to protect our values, and somebody is saying that I should not do that. It's unacceptable," he said.
Legault took particular issue with the way Kurl asked the question -- stating as a fact that the laws were discriminatory.
"Claiming that protecting French is discriminatory, or even racist, it's ridiculous," he said.
Legault described Bill 21, which restricts the wearing of religious symbols by some government employees, such as police officers and teachers, as a "moderate law" democratically adopted by the province's legislature and supported by the "vast majority" of Quebecers.
"Bill 21 doesn't apply in the rest of Canada. So please, please, it's none of your business," he said.
Bill 21 has been controversial in Quebec, where despite being shielded by the Constitution's notwithstanding clause it has been challenged by civil liberties groups and organizations representing Muslims. In April, a Superior Court judge upheld most of the law, striking down elements that applied to English-language school boards and the province's legislature.
Bill 96, which remains before the legislature, would unilaterally change the Canadian Constitution to affirm that Quebec is a nation and that French is its official language. The bill would strengthen sign laws and language requirements for businesses, including those in federally regulated industries. Other provisions would cap enrolment at English junior colleges and grant new powers to the French-language watchdog.
The law has been criticized by anglophone-rights groups in part, because, like Bill 21, it pre-emptively invokes the notwithstanding clause to shield it from constitutional challenges.
Legault was not alone in his criticism of the moderator's question.
Provincial Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade also described it as "unacceptable" and "Quebec bashing" in a post on Twitter. "There's no place for this kind of discourse," she added.
The Angus Reid Institute, where Kurl is president, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday afternoon, but the Debate Broadcast Group provided an emailed statement.
"Shachi Kurl's question regarding Quebec's provincial Bill 21 and Bill 96 was asked to give Mr. Blanchet an opportunity to explain his party's view of these bills, both of which have been widely reported on and discussed since they were introduced in the Quebec National Assembly," said Leon Mar, a spokesman for the group. "The question addressed these bills explicitly; it did not state that Quebecers are racist."
Legault also, for the second day in a row, criticized the NDP, Liberals and Greens, saying that the three parties want to diminish Quebec's autonomy.
"We have three leaders now that are proposing to get into Quebec's jurisdiction, we have three leaders saying that they may oppose, in court, Bill 21, three leaders that are not ready to give us more responsibility to choose new immigrants," he said.
On Thursday, Legault praised Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole's stances on health-care funding and immigration, as well as his promise not to join a challenge to Bill 21. However, the premier said he is worried O'Toole would scrap a $6-billion child-care deal between Quebec and Ottawa, adding that a minority government would be preferable to a majority.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2021.
This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
