The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After mosque attack, Canadian Muslims point to ‘trash radio’
Anti-immigrant rhetoric can be heard on airwaves.
QUEBEC CITY, CANADA — They call it “radio poubelle,” or trash radio. Quebec City has developed the dubious reputation as Canada’s capital of shock jocks, online radio hosts who love to provoke with their outrageous talk about women, homosexuals and Muslims.
As this city of 800,000 deals with the emotional aftermath of Sunday’s shooting at a local mosque that left six worshipers dead and several injured, the role of trash radio in spreading xenophobic attitudes is getting new attention. A 27-year-old local university student and follower of far-right causes was charged Monday with murder and attempted murder in connection with the massacre.
While there is no indication that the alleged shooter, Alexandre Bissonnette, was particularly influenced by trash radio, members of the Muslim community were quick to complain about the corrosive impact of the anti-immigrant rhetoric heard on the city’s airwaves.
Quebec City’s popular mayor, Régis Labeaume, also appeared to criticize the radio stations. Speaking at an outdoor vigil in memory of the victims Monday evening, he denounced those who “get rich from peddling hatred.”
“The real danger of this kind of radio is that they play with the line between news, opinion and demagoguery,” said Louis-Philippe Lampron, who teaches human rights law at Laval University.
Lampron said four or five talk-show hosts dominate the market. They move between a handful of stations and constantly compete for listeners with their outrageous talk, which is often right-wing and populist in tone.
“It’s very insidious and aggressive,” Lampron said.
Jeff Fillion, one of the best-known hosts, was fired last summer by Bell Media, owner of Energie 98.9 FM, after he ridiculed a prominent local businessman who had publicly grieved his son’s suicide. But soon after, Fillion was back on the air at another station.
“It’s like reality TV,” said Guillaume Verret, a 21-yearold college student and parttime barista as he sat with friends at a Starbucks in suburban Sainte-Foy. “It’s completely stupid and easy. They don’t give you facts. They just give you opinions that provoke people.”
Although Muslims make up a tiny percentage of Quebec City’s population, their presence has been growing as the provincial government encourages immigration by French-speaking Africans.
Quebec has been involved in an often-heated public debate in recent years over what is referred to as “reasonable accommodation” of immigrants and religious minorities, including a controversial effort to ban the wearing by government employees of “conspicuous” religious symbols such as hijabs, turbans and yarmulkes. The measure, known as the Charter of Values, was seen as a key reason for the 2014 election defeat of the Parti Quebecois government.
The hijab issue continues to bubble up in Quebec, as have cases in which mosques in the province have been denied permission to open or expand their premises. Two weeks ago, a judge ruled that a borough of the Montreal had violated Canada’s constitutional protection of religious freedom by changing the zoning of a building rented by a local mosque and ruling that new places of worship could be housed only in an industrial zone.
In Quebec City, attention continues to be focused on the life of the suspected shooter. Although unknown to police, Bissonnette became increasingly attracted to far-right politics online and was considered a troll who railed on the Web against women and immigrants. A former military cadet, he was also reportedly obsessed with guns. Police have yet to give details on the weapon used in the attack.
Firearms are heavily regulated in Canada, and permits are required for restricted weapons such as semiautomatics. But they are available if people are willing to take the right legal steps and have no criminal record.
Doctors at l’Enfant-Jésus Hospital reported Tuesday that two of the survivors remained in critical condition and needed further surgery. But Julien Clément, the hospital’s trauma chief, said he expected both men to survive.
“There could be other complications,” Clément told a news conference. “But because they were treated relatively quickly and are relatively young, there’s a good chance they will respond well.” Two other victims remained in the hospital and were said to be recovering. A fifth man was released Monday.