In a Facebook post on Saturday, Quebec Premier François Legault went after what he called “radical activists” who he said are trying to censor certain words and works.
In the post, Legault called the freedom of expression a pillar of democracy, and that if there was any compromise on that, there would be a risk of seeing censorship across all media and in political debates.
He said that it is worrying that more and more people feel intimidated, and feel forced to censor themselves in fear of being denounced and insulted.
“If we start to censor ourselves out of fear of being insulted, or if we do not defend someone that is a victim of this, we’re playing the game of radicals,” Legault said.
“I understand that it can be scary, but we must stand up and remain firm.”
The premier specifically went after universities in his post as well, and said that professors are being asked to erase the works of Anne Hébert, Réjean Ducharme, Dany Laferrière and Pierre Vallières.
The premier also made reference to an incident last fall, where a teacher at the University of Ottawa was suspended for using the N-word during a class. When it happened, Legault said that he did not understand the university’s decision.
“Our universities should be places for respectable debate, debates with censorship and truth-seeking, even when the truth can shock or provoke,” Legault said.
“We will do what we can to help our universities protect our freedom of expression.”
He said that issues on freedom of expression started in universities and that is where it should be fixed first. He added that Danielle McCann, Quebec’s minister of higher education, is working on finding ways to fix the issue.
With files from CBC News
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