Louise Harel Sowing Xenophobia, Outraged Groups Say

Community groups’ reaction to Louise Harel’s (representative of the Vision Montreal municipal political party - and runs for mayor of Montreal in 2009) remarks on ethnic mini-cities varied Tuesday from shock to surprise.
Salam Elmanyawi, president of the Muslim Council of Montreal, asked if a borough elects a mayor of Italian or Jewish origin, “does this make it an Italian or Jewish city?”
“This is really racist,” he said in a phone interview.
“Will reducing the number of boroughs from 19 make it more likely for there to be an Arab city or a Jewish city? What logic is she using?
“The only thing I can see is fearmongering,” he added, suggesting Harel was out to marginalize members of ethnic communities and curtail their power.
“It isn’t anymore about English- and French-speaking, it’s now about ethnicity.”
Ninette Piou, president of the National Council of Citizens of Haitian Origin, said Harel’s comments were “unacceptable, inadmissible.”
“We are all Montrealers. We all work for the development of Montreal and Quebec,” she said.
Kéder Hippolyte, a veteran Haitian community activist, said the ethnic references are “frightening, especially coming from her.”
“Are they not citizens? Are they not Quebecers? Do they have rights? Can they elect one of their own?” he asked.
The Quebec section of the Canadian Jewish Congress expressed disappointment that Harel used ethnic, religious and linguistic distinctions to label boroughs.
“Every one of these boroughs is a multicultural, multiracial, multireligious area,” spokesperson Robert Presser said.
Tony Sciascia, president of the Italian Canadian Congress, Quebec region, wondered how reducing the number of boroughs to cut costs would fortify ethnic enclaves.
“What she is saying is not well founded,” Sciascia said.
Robert Libman, the former mayor of Côte St. Luc, said Harel is “sowing the seeds of xenophobia by pointing to identifiable communities.”
“Municipal structures are about delivering a range of service in the most efficient way possible. It’s not related to the concentration of ethnic origins in some neighbourhoods.
“It’s as if she sees bogeymen in everything that is not white and francophone,” Libman said.

Source : The Gazette