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French president thanks Quebec premier for defending freedom of expression

The move by François Legault comes despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's own reluctance to do the same thing.

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QUEBEC — French President Emmanuel Macron has personally called Premier François Legault to thank him for his defence of freedom of expression, Legault revealed Tuesday.

The move, which has the makings of a diplomatic incident, comes despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s own reluctance to do the same thing.

Trudeau had been asked Friday about the right to caricature religions and in particular the right to draw the Muslim Prophet.

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Such cartoons have been used as a pretext for recent attacks in France and the Charlie Hebdo attack in 2015.

On Friday, Trudeau said the publication of certain images indicate some limits on freedom of expression are sometimes necessary. He said, as an example, people cannot shout fire in a jammed-packed movie theatre.

Legault went the other way, saying on Monday he “totally disagreed” with Trudeau and that he believes such freedoms are fundamental, which is the same position as Macron’s.

Legault revealed in a tweet that Macron had placed the call to him.

“He (Macron) thanked me for the unconditional support that I gave to the defence of freedom of expression,” Legault tweeted. “Our two nations share this fundamental value.”

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At a news conference Tuesday, Legault continued to be critical of Trudeau.

“Emmanuel Macron called me this morning to thank me, among other things, for the clear position we took on the defence of freedom of expression, without hesitation and with no subterfuge,” Legault told reporters.

“It’s true there are certain political leaders who fear terrorism and, faced with the blackmail of certain radical religious groups, are ready to make accommodations which were not reasonable,” he added.

“The Quebec nation has values and we have a duty to defend these values. Among these values is freedom of expression, there is secularism, there is the French language. It’s not true that we are going to put this aside and accept exaggerated compromises in the name of multiculturalism.”

He drew a parallel with Quebec’s secularism law, Bill 21, which, while widely supported in Quebec, has not sat well with the rest of Canada or minorities in Quebec.

“We have the same debate in Canada,” Legault said. “We had it with Bill 21: defend secularism or defend multiculturalism?

“It’s clear where we are situated: we are going to defend the fundamental values of the Quebec nation, such as freedom of expression, such as secularism.

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“Mr. Trudeau has refused to commit himself to not fight Bill 21 in Quebec, which is supported by the vast majority of Quebecers.”

The law is currently being challenged in the courts.

But in Ottawa at about the same time, Trudeau was scrambling to adjust his message, which has been widely criticized including by the French.

Trudeau told reporters that unlike Legault, he has not been called by Macron but insisted he is working closely with France on a series of issues.

Asked if he condemns the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, Trudeau responded “No.”

“I think it’s important that we continue to have and defend freedom of expression,” he said. “It’s still important. And our artists, our columnists, make us think, challenge us, and have an extremely important contribution to our society.”

But Macron responded a second time later, tweeting his thanks to Legault.

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But while Legault waded into an issue in France, he refused to take a position on who he would like to see win the U.S. elections Tuesday.

“I do not intend to get involved in that,” Legault told reporters. “I would not like, if we were in elections here, that other states or countries get mixed up in our elections. So it will be up to the Americans to decide.”

Legault chuckled when a reporter said he doubted his choice would influence the vote.

“I agree with you,” Legault said. “I am very humble faced with this.”

Earlier, Quebec’s three opposition leaders all came down squarely in favour of Democratic candidate Joe Biden.

“I am among the overwhelming majority of Quebecers who are very anxious to be rid of Donald Trump,” said Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.

pauthier@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/philipauthier

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