Four days after the premier of Quebec, François Legault, called him woke, the spokesperson for Quebec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, accuses him in a text posted on Facebook of “reducing Quebec to its person” to better “discredit its opponents”.
“François Legault’s vision can be summed up in one sentence: Quebec is me,” writes Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, at the start of his text shared on Sunday afternoon.
“Intoxicated by the polls, intoxicated by the enormous place he has occupied in televisions since the start of the pandemic, he has granted himself the right to decree what Quebec values are and, by the gang, who is Quebecer and who is not, ”continues the spokesperson for Québec solidaire.
Last Wednesday, the two men had a lively exchange at the Salon Bleu. “In recent days, the Prime Minister has succumbed to one of his worst flaws. He set about making his best imitation of Maurice Duplessis. He proclaimed himself leader of the Quebec nation. I’m sorry to go crazy, but I think someone has to do it, ”said Mr. Nadeau-Dubois.
To which François Legault replied: “The leader of Québec solidaire tells us about Maurice Duplessis. He had many faults, but he stood up for his nation. He was not a woke like the leader of Québec solidaire. ”
Discussions ensued on the definition of the word woke. During a press briefing held the next day, Mr. Legault said that it was “someone who sees discrimination everywhere”.
“We can disagree with Bill 21, but to say that it is discriminatory and that the Quebec nation does not have the right to defend the values of its majority, it is a debate which is becoming very important”, had added Mr. Legault, during the same public outing.
Words that made Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois react. “In Quebec, there are people who are in favor of Bill 21. I know several, they are people that I love and respect, with whom I share other projects. […] There are also people who are against Law 21. (I am one of them.) They are not wokesnor enemies of the nation. They are Quebeckers in their own right, who have a different vision of secularism than that of François Legault ”, reacts Mr. Nadeau-Dubois in his text.
“Never let someone tell you that you are not from Quebec. Whether you were born here or born elsewhere, whether you vote blue, orange or red, whether you are an independentist or not, Quebec is your nation, ”concludes the parliamentary leader of Quebec solidaire.
With Hugo Pilon-Larose, The Press