An apparently unsanctioned weekend rally in Quebec’s Mauricie region at which 20 or so masked men held a banner stating “Je me souviens d’un Québec blanc” has drawn the ire of Quebec politicians.
According to Radio-Canada, the rally took place in Shawinigan’s Veterans Park on Saturday afternoon. It’s not clear who organized the event.
“I condemn in the strongest terms the rally held in Shawinigan and the racist messages it conveyed,” Premier Christine Fréchette said on social media. “Like many Quebecers, I was deeply shocked. Such statements are unacceptable and have no place in our society.
“We should never normalize or tolerate this kind of behaviour. Whenever hatred and racism manifest themselves, we have a collective responsibility to denounce them clearly and unequivocally.”
Quebec Liberal Party chief Charles Milliard said on X: “I unequivocally condemn this horrific gathering. Shame on those who spread a divisive message that in no way represents the openness of the Québécois people.”
White supremacist groups “have brandished racist messages in Mauricie,” said Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
He said so-called active clubs such as Second Sons Canada “hide behind sports to recruit and normalize extremism.”
Active clubs are a decentralized network of white supremacist and neo-Nazi cells that recruit young men under the guise of mixed martial arts, physical fitness and self-improvement.
“Public security has clearly identified them as hate groups. Let us be unanimous and vigorously denounce this racism,” said St-Pierre Plamondon.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said on X: “This garbage is a disgraceful display of racism and cowardice. Quebec can and must be better: a society enriched by its history of diversity, French, egalitarian — with a secular state that welcomes successful immigration in harmony. Hatred is not welcome.”