Parti Québécois leader André Boisclair refused to apologize Thursday for describing Asian students as having "slanting eyes."
Boisclair made the comments in French while speaking to a crowd of students in Trois-Rivières on Wednesday, a speech in which he drew on his experience at Harvard University to talk about global competition from Asian countries such as India and China.
PQ Leader Andre Boisclair flashes a smile in Quebec City Thursday.
(Jacques Boissinot/Canadian Press)
The PQ leader made the faux pas when talking about the mass migration of young people from the two rising industrial giants to North American universities.
"The reality is these countries are not just working to create jobs in sweatshops," he said. "When I was in Boston, where I spent a year, I was surprised to see that on campus, about one-third of the students doing their bachelor degrees had les yeux bridés (slanting eyes)."
Boisclair stood his ground Thursday, and said he will not withdraw the comment, which he said is an acceptable expression in French.
"If the translation in English has a different meaning than the one in French, then I didn't use the word in English, I used it in French, and no way will I excuse myself."
The comments drew sharp criticism from several Quebec groups, including the Centre for Research-Action of Race Relations. Executive director Fo Niemi said while he knows Boisclair personally, and believes the PQ leader is sensitive to racial issues, the expression he used is "racially offensive."
But Boisclair's rival, Liberal Leader Jean Charest, refused to condemn his opponent for borrowing the expression.
"Believe me, I find plenty of fault politically with [him], and I'm not shy about saying that.
"But if I had to guess today, I wouldn't fault him for using that expression. I think he used words that were probably not the best choice, but whatever I know of would indicate to me that he's not someone who would have a pejorative view of any citizens in Quebec."
Continuing debate in Quebec on accommodating minorities
All politicians face a daunting challenge during election campaigns, when they're under close scrutiny, and every word is dissected, Charest said.
Boisclair's words aren't the first instance of racial issues surfacing in the 2007 Quebec election campaign.
There's a continuing debate in the province about accommodating ethnic and religious minorities in public institutions and society at large.
The Action Démocratique du Québec dropped a candidate after he told a newspaper his party's family policy, which encourages higher birth rates, was sound because it would help protect the province from being overrun by "ethnics."
With files from the Canadian PressRelated
Internal Links
Video
- Leah Hendry reports for CBC-TV (Runs: 2:41)
- Play: QuickTime »
- Play: Real Media »
| Party | Elected | Leading | Total | Vote Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LIB | 48 | 0 | 48 | 33.08% |
| ADQ | 41 | 0 | 41 | 30.80% |
| PQ | 36 | 0 | 36 | 28.32% |
| QS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.65% |
| GRN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.89% |
| OTH | 0 | 0 | 0 | .26% |
| Last Update:March 27, 12:52:21 AM EDT | ||||
Quebec Votes 2007 Headlines »
- Que. Liberals take minority win with grain of salt
- Quebec Premier Jean Charest said he'll build bridges with the Parti Québécois and the Action Démocratique du Québec to ensure a stable minority government.
- Dumont will work with Quebec Premier Charest
- Quebec's new Opposition Leader Mario Dumont said he wants stability at the national assembly and pledged to work with the Liberal minority government on a case-by-case basis.
- Boisclair remains at helm after PQ finishes 3rd
- André Boisclair is staying on as leader of the Parti Québécois and vowed to help rebuild the fractured party after it suffered major losses in Monday's provincial election.
- Quebec election result 'good news' for Canada: PM
- Stephen Harper says voters in the Quebec election have used their ballots to reject calls for another referendum in a "great result" for Canada.
- Charest keeps seat as Liberals cling to power in Quebec
- Quebecers are waking up to a minority Liberal government — the first minority in the province in 130 years — and a new official Opposition.