MNA Haroun Bouazzi apologizes for jab at CAQ ministers, but not for comments on racism

A Québec Solidaire MNA who has been at the centre of a political firestorm issued an apology to Coalition Avenir Québec ministers on Tuesday, but he stopped short of retracting the statement he made about racism and the negative portrayal of ethnic and cultural groups at the National Assembly that triggered the controversy in the first place.

Haroun Bouazzi has faced criticism for a speech he delivered last week at an event organized by Fondation Club Avenir, a community group that works with immigrants.

Bouazzi touched on the topic of racism, and his words immediately sparked accusations that he labelled his fellow lawmakers as racists and undermined the integrity of the institution.

"God knows I see this in the National Assembly every day, the construction of this other, this other who is Maghrebi, who is Muslim, who is Black, who is Indigenous and whose culture, by definition, would be dangerous or inferior," Bouazzi said during his speech, which he posted on his Instagram page.

As an example, he pointed to the situation at Bedford elementary school in Montreal, where the suspension of 11 teachers reignited the debate over secularism in Quebec.

He praised the community group's work in "breaking the mechanism of racism."

Since the speech, there have also been calls for QS to sanction its MNA. But Bouazzi, who was elected as the MNA for Montreal's Maurice-Richard riding in 2022, has been adamant that he never called anyone racist.

On Tuesday, the three other political parties at the National Assembly tabled separate motions denouncing the remarks made during Bouazzi's speech. In its motion, the CAQ demanded the MNA apologize and retract what he said. 

Following a vote in the evening, MNAs — including Bouazzi — unanimously adopted the motions put forward by the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) and the Parti Québécois (PQ), which reaffirm that the National Assembly and its members are not racist.

Neither motion mentioned Bouazzi by name. The CAQ's motion was rejected. 

Earlier in the day, Bouazzi took to X on Tuesday to write a lengthy statement, in which he apologized to Health Minister Christian Dubé and Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant for comments he made last Friday during an interview with Radio-Canada's Tout un matin.

During that interview, he singled out Dubé and Carmant, saying they've blamed immigration for problems like surgery delays or issues plaguing the province's youth protection system.

Both ministers came out out saying those claims were false and unacceptable. 

Bouazzi now acknowledges that his comments were "clumsy."