Former imam wins Liberal nomination
OTTAWA • A former imam who gained international attention for speaking at a funeral for victims of the Quebec City mosque shooting has won the Liberal nomination in the Montreal riding of Saint-Léonard— Saint-Michel, the first time the party has nominated a non-Italian in the Liberal stronghold.
Hassan Guillet said the Liberals were reluctant to have him run in Saint-Léonard, afraid of antagonizing the large Italian community. But he pushed ahead, and insists that he represents the community “better than everybody else,” pointing out that the riding is increasingly diverse and is now home to sizable North African and Haitian populations as well.
“The Muslim community is as big as the Italian community,” Guillet told the Post in an interview. “The demographic changed enormously.”
Guillet claims to speak six languages, including Italian, and said he was the only potential candidate who could speak to the majority of the riding’s constituents in their mother tongue, whether it be French, English, Italian or Arabic.
His nomination marks a dramatic shift in the Montreal riding, which has been represented by members of the Italian community since its creation in 1988. The seat was held until 2002 by Alfonso Gagliano, a central figure in the Quebec sponsorship scandal, followed by Massimo Pacetti, who was expelled from the Liberal caucus in 2015 over accusations of sexual misconduct. The riding went to Nicola Di Iorio in the last federal election, who announced his resignation in April 2018 but didn’t officially resign until the end of January 2019.
Guillet said he approached the Liberals when Di Iorio first announced he planned to resign, thinking he would run in a byelection. He doesn’t live in the community, but said much of his family does, and the idea of running in a Liberal stronghold was appealing.
Guillet said the Liberals were interested in him, but suggested he run elsewhere. “They had a dilemma. On the one hand, they wanted me to be there,” he said. “But they didn’t want to alienate the Italian community, because historically it was always run by an Italian. … They cannot imagine losing Saint-Léonard.”
On Monday night, he won the nomination, with more than 1,200 members attending the event. “Everyone was telling me it was unprecedented,” he said.
Guillet received worldwide attention after speaking at the funeral of three of the victims of the 2017 shooting at a mosque in Quebec City.
Guillet stopped serving as an imam when he decided to run for federal office. Still, his background may prove a hurdle in a province where secularism is a live political issue. However, Guillet insists he had no religious authority as an imam, and that it shouldn’t stop him from “exercising (my) constitutional right.”
“I think the different facets of my experience will enrich debate in the House of Commons,” he said.