{"id":440925,"date":"2026-01-29T13:41:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T13:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/440925\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T13:41:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T13:41:10","slug":"9-years-after-mosque-attack-paralyzed-survivor-says-quebec-secularism-laws-hinder-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/440925\/","title":{"rendered":"9 years after mosque attack, paralyzed survivor says Quebec secularism laws hinder progress"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly a decade after being shot several times in the Islamic Cultural Centre in the Sainte-Foy neighbourhood of Quebec City, Aymen Derbali is focused on the small wins.<\/p>\n

He can move his fingers on his right hand, make his own coffee and is now strong enough to grab his laptop.<\/p>\n

Derbali was paralyzed from the chest down after a gunman opened fire in his mosque on Jan. 29, 2017, killing six men and injuring 19. <\/p>\n

Sitting in his living room in his motorized wheelchair, Derbali calls some of the improvements \u201clittle things,\u201d but they represent major steps in his recovery.<\/p>\n

One of the bullets that struck him the night of the attack remains lodged in his spine \u2014 too dangerous to remove. He says he\u2019s one of the lucky ones who made it out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Derbali had been near the mosque’s entrance when the gunman opened fire. Rushing toward the shooter in an attempt to destabilize him, he was shot several times, but still tried to get back up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AQuebec mosque victims, clockwise from left: Azzeddine Soufiane, Mamadou Tanou Barry, Khaled Belkacemi, Aboubaker Thabti, Ibrahima Barry and Abdelkrim Hassane (CBC)<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought that this is the end,\u201d he recalled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I woke up in the hospital … in the beginning, I thought the hospital was heaven.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nine years later, he\u2019s focusing on his family, community and advocacy \u2014 particularly at a time when he says Islamophobia is surging in the province in the wake of several pieces of legislation reinforcing secularism in Quebec.<\/p>\n

\u201cFighting Islamaphobia, this is my duty,\u201d he said. \u201cI have to raise my voice.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Islamophobic laws\u2019 target Muslims, says survivor<\/p>\n

Following the attack, Derbali expected less Islamophobia and more tolerance. As an advocate in his community, he says he\u2019s witnessed the opposite.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He still reads hateful comments online and words spreading ignorance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aymen Derbali, pictured in 2018, sat at the front of the prayer room where he was shot almost a year prior. (Julia Page\/CBC)<\/p>\n

He says the secularism laws introduced in Quebec over the past few years under the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec (CAQ) government undermine efforts to foster understanding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In November<\/a>, the CAQ tabled another bill aimed at strengthening secularism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bill 9, titled An Act respecting the reinforcement of laicity in Quebec, sets out to build on two previous secularism laws passed under Premier Fran\u00e7ois Legault.<\/p>\n

It would put limits on public prayers in parks and inside public institutions, and extend a ban on religious symbols to workers in subsidized daycares.<\/p>\n

This comes in addition to Bill 94, adopted<\/a> last year, which extended the province\u2019s ban on religious symbols to everyone who interacts with students in schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bill 21<\/a>, passed in 2019, prohibits public school teachers, government lawyers, judges and police officers from wearing religious symbols while at work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a video address in 2019<\/a> responding to criticism on Bill 21, Legault said it was time to “nail down the rules” on religious symbols. <\/p>\n

“Some people will say that we are going too far. Some will say, we aren’t going far enough. In reality, this bill is moderate, just like Quebecers,” he said at the time.<\/p>\n

To Derbali, it\u2019s clear these are \u201cIslamophobic laws.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The effects of this type of legislation on his community are tangible, he says, and even impact the widows and children of the men who died in the attack.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to know what is the problem of seeing women wearing a veil? What could be the problem? Where is the freedom?\u201d questioned Derbali.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the freedoms \u2026 in Canada, we don\u2019t see them in Quebec. It\u2019s like we are living [on] an island.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the end of November<\/a>, Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Roberge, Quebec’s minister responsible for secularism, said that when the state is neutral, “Quebecers are free.” <\/p>\n

He also rejected a suggestion from a reporter that religious minorities were unfairly targeted with Bill 9.<\/p>\n

“We have the same rules applying to everyone,” he said.<\/p>\n

‘We don’t lose hope’<\/p>\n

Mohamed Labidi, president of the Islamic centre, says these laws are encouraging some community members to move out of the province.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The more restrictions impact religious groups, the more it \u201cencourages those who have a xenophobic attitude to go even further,” he said. <\/p>\n

\"AMohamed Labidi, pictured at the eighth commemoration of the attack, says harmful stereotypes can impact progress. (Rachel Watts\/CBC)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a risk of things spiraling out of control at any time due to these laws which promote xenophobia or racism,\u201d said Labidi at a news conference in Quebec City on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With each anniversary, survivors of the attack renew their call for connection, compassion and tolerance to combat Islamophobia \u2014 and this year is no different.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the first time, Quebec City is taking part in organizing the commemorations.<\/p>\n

The ninth commemoration will take place at the city\u2019s building, \u00c9difice Andr\u00e9e-P.-Boucher, starting at 5 p.m. Thursday evening. The city said it will be dedicated for the loved ones of the victims and dignitaries will also be present.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WATCH | In this archived video from 2017, Mohamed Labidi says Azzedine Soufiane died a hero:\"\"<\/p>\n

Mohamed Labidi describes how Azzedine Soufiane tried to tackle Quebec City mosque shooter<\/p>\n

Mohamed Labidi describes how Azzedine Soufiane tried to tackle the shooter at the site of the Quebec City mosque attack.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the mosque will open its doors to the community and will offer conferences and panels on promoting togetherness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThese moments are very important,\u201d said Nizar Ghali, who was shot twice on the night of the attack.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIts important we take this as opportunities for us all to work together, to live together, to [have] dialogue. We\u2019re opening the doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says he\u2019s not against the idea of secularism but instead the way it’s been defined, presented and advanced in Quebec.<\/p>\n

Aymen Derbali, pictured in 2019, says he will continue to have hope. (Julia Page\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Derbali, for his part, says it\u2019s not just a change in the government’s attitude that\u2019s needed \u2014 it has to extend to all Quebecers, he says. That\u2019s why he continues to be vocal, speaking at schools in the province.<\/p>\n

“We are human beings, and if we don’t care about other human beings, we lose our humanity,” he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese laws do not help [in] fighting Islamophobia, but we don\u2019t lose hope. We continue.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nearly a decade after being shot several times in the Islamic Cultural Centre in the Sainte-Foy neighbourhood of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-440925","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}