Racism: Trudeau supports expelled leader of party from the House

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday supported the leader of an opposition party temporarily expelled the day before the House of Commons for refusing to apologize after accusing an MP of racism. The leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) Jagmeet Singh, who is Sikh and the first member of a visible minority to preside over a Canadian federal political party, had an argument on Wednesday with a member of the Bloc Quebecois, an independence party.

The latter refused to approve an NDP motion to recognize systemic racism in the federal police. “I am very disappointed that the Bloc Québécois continues not to recognize that systemic racism exists everywhere in Canada, in our institutions. The first step is to recognize that there is a problem, " said Justin Trudeau in his daily press briefing, stressing that these questions were necessary to " move forward . " The leader of the Bloc Québécois in the House, Alain Therrien, refused to vote for the NDP motion, provoking a heated exchange with Jagmeet Singh, who accused him of racism. The latter then refused to apologize, resulting in his temporary expulsion.

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The leader of the independence party Yves-Marie Blanchet defended his deputy and asked for sanctions against Jagmeet Singh, authorized Thursday to resume his place in the Commons. "I hope the leader of the NDP will sincerely apologize, or else I hope the Speaker of the House of Commons will be rather harsh, because if the only sanction is not to be allowed to sit for a day or two , everyone will think they have the right to do the same , " said Thursday Yves-Marie Blanchet. The NDP is the fourth political force, with 24 out of 338 members in the House of Commons, while the Bloc Québécois has 32.

This altercation comes in the context of demonstrations in the country denouncing racism and police violence, in the framework of the vast protest movement caused by the death of the African-American George Floyd, smothered under the knee of a white policeman during of an arrest.