The provincial government of Quebec has passed a motion to “rectify” the opinion of Canadian commentator J.J. McCullough after he wrote an opinion piece for The Washington Post asking why “progressive” Quebec has had so many mass shootings.
Mr. McCullough wrote his article entitled, “Why Does ‘Progressive’ Quebec Have So Many Massacres?” two days after police arrested 27-year-old Alexandre Bisonette who is suspected of killing six Muslims during their Sunday evening prayers in Quebec City. The cartoonist and political commentator noted that despite the “progressive” left wing politics of the province, the number of mass shootings was much higher than other provinces in Canada.
“My lifetime has overlapped with at least one spectacular act of Quebec public violence every five years or so. No other province can claim the same,” McCollough wrote. He then noted many Canadians hold up Quebec as an example for the rest of the country due to its strict gun laws and other social-democratic policies.
“Criticism of Quebec, meanwhile, is deeply taboo”, citing the example of a Canadian journalist who was deeply critical of Quebec in 2006. She had been formally denounced by the government which led her into a “career-ruining depression”.
Earlier this week, the separatist Bloc Quebecois, which has only ten seats in parliament, tried to introduce a motion to denounce McCullough, calling his opinions “racist”. But the motion was rejected by the Conservative Party.
However, on Wednesday, provincial separatists the Parti Quebecois managed to pass a motion 122 to zero, denouncing McCullough in the Quebec legislature.
The Quebec government has also announced that it will be confronting The Washington Post. International Affairs Minister Christine St-Pierre said, “Initially, we didn’t want to give this man any publicity because the comments are upsetting.
“But after reflection and seeing the PQ motion, we will write to the editor-in-chief of The Washington Post. We’ll see if they publish it.”
McCullough spoke to Breitbart London saying, “It’s bizarre to be on the receiving end of a government order like this and have no idea what’s planning on being done to you, or what you’re expected to do”. He added no one from Quebec or the Canadian government had contacted him despite him writing a letter to the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
The Quebec government is following in the immediate footsteps of the Canadian Federal government who took to Twitter to pressure Fox News to change one of their tweets after it was revealed that the Morrocan national who was arrested at the scene of the shooting was no longer a suspect.