PM decries hate parcel Quebec City mosque got

Same site where gunman killed six men

QUEBEC• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the mailing of a package containing a defaced Qur’an and a note expressing hate toward a Muslim cemetery project has nothing to do with Quebec or Canadian values.

Trudeau says there will be intolerant or racist people in every society and the challenge is to focus on people’s similarities and not their differences.

The prime minister was speaking in Quebec City Wednesday after local police said security has been increased around the mosque that received the package Friday.

It ’s t he same mosque where six men were killed in January when a gunman burst into the building and opened fire during evening prayer.

The package arrived two days before a referendum on a proposed Muslim cemetery was held Sunday in nearby Saint-Apollinaire.

Trudeau expressed disappointment with the referendum outcome, which saw voters narrowly reject a zoning change that would have allowed the burial ground project to move forward.

The mosque’s secretary general, Mahedine Djamai, said when the package arrived Friday, he expected it to contain more of the sympathy cards that have poured in from across Canada since January’s shootings.

Instead, he said, it contained a slashed Qur’an and a note suggesting the mosque should use a pig farm as a cemetery.

“I was shocked,” Djamai said. “I thought, once again we’re getting this kind of message we didn’t expect at all.”

Djamai said the mosque informed police but decided not to go public until after the referendum to avoid influencing the vote.

Quebec City police spokesman David Poitras said security has been increased around the Centre culturel islamique de Québec and authorities are taking the matter seriously. He added it’s too soon to know whether any charges will be laid.

Djamai says t he community has been shaken by the incident, which brings back memories of the deadly shootings.

“We’ve received an enormous number of packages, of letters of sympathy (since the shooting),” he said.

“On the other hand, the parcel we received, it reminds us that there’s always a fear that a terrible event like what happened on Jan. 29 could happen again.”

Six men between the ages of 39 and 60 were killed by the gunman in January.

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard condemned the latest incident, which he described as “unacceptable and repulsive.”

This is not the first time a hateful gesture has been directed at the mosque.

Last June, a pig’s head was left at the entrance of the mosque during Ramadan.

The mosque said it has also received hateful letters since the attack.