NATIONAL POST: There's a witch hunt going on in Quebec, and as all too often in this country's linguistically fractured country, what is happening in Quebec seems to be staying in Quebec. This is annoying, because it's a free-speech issue that concerns us all.
Here is the story, with details provided from Richard Martineau's post in Canoe, the Journal de Montreal's comment blog. On September 10, outspoken 98.5 FM radio host Benoît Dutrizac interviewed NDP candidate for Bourassa riding, Samira Laouni. Ms Laouni is an observant Muslim (she wears the hijab) and has worked as project manager for the Canadian Islamic Congress, a militant lobby for Islamic interests, including, most troublingly, the introduction of Sharia law. Dutrizac has a reputation for impertinence - in fact, many Quebec radio show hosts permit themselves the kind of shock-jock licence you would never find in the rest of Canada - so nobody is suggesting the interview wasn't meant to provoke discomfort in Ms Laouni.
Dutrizac pressed hard on such issues as the CIC's reputation for extremist views, where Ms Laouni stands on Sharia, whether she is prepared to defend the rights of homosexuals, and does she find it unacceptable that ten-year old girls have to wear the hijab. He also asked her if she had to ask her husband's permission to launch her political campaign (she said no). Ms Laouni stood up well to the challenge, the mood was playful, relaxed and warm, and both laughed frequently. Listen for yourself. Even if you don't speak French, you can sense that both are very much at ease, that Dutrizac holds no personal animosity, and that Ms Lauoni is totally on top of the situation. At the end of the interview, Dutrizac asked NDP big wig Thomas Mulcair, who had accompanied Ms Laouni to the station, if he was happy with how it had gone. Mulcair flashed him a smile and a two-thumbs-up.
Against the backdrop of Dutrizac's career-long history of aggressive and even what many would call at times offensive tactics, this was completely normal. But reaction from the hard left was swift and heated. The left wing "The Dominion" wrote that "Madame Laouni has been viciously attacked by a racist, misogynist and Islamophobic host." The Ontario branch of CUPE said "Dutrizac must resign and the CRTC should lead an inquiry into the hate-filled and sexist words directed to a Muslim candidate." The Canada-Arab Federation demanded that "The Corus network should review its policies in the area of hate speech and enforce harassment training on all its personnel." Barbara Kay, Quebec Shock Jock Is Accused by the Usual Suspects of a Hit Job on a Hijab >>> By Jonathan Kay | September 29, 2008
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