‘Lying, manipulating, intimidating’ at Quebec National Assembly every day, says QS MNA Bouazzi

Québec solidaire (QS) MNA Haroun Bouazzi has once again attacked the members of the National Assembly.

After being convicted in 2024 for claiming that he saw racism every day in Parliament, he is at it again, this time claiming that “lying, manipulating, intimidating” is part of everyday life in the National Assembly.

This is what he stated in his riding’s publication, the Journal des Voisins, in its winter 2026 edition.

The CAQ government responded by calling for Bouazzi’s expulsion from the QS caucus.

A QS press secretary argued that Bouazzi’s statements had been taken out of context.

In an article reviewing his term in office, the representative for Maurice-Richard (Montreal) also claims that “the National Assembly is a toxic environment.”

He believes that it is impossible to be happy in a context such as that of the parliamentary institution, according to the article. Nevertheless, he adds that he felt “at home during the past three years of his term.”

The Canadian Press asked two spokespeople for the political party during the day if the member wanted to clarify his thoughts, but did not receive a response.

Finally, a press officer who requested anonymity called back at the end of the day to say that “it had been taken out of context,” that it was “an intimate interview in a small newspaper.” She pointed out that Bouazzi had been involved in a controversy in 2024 and had received threats at the time.

“The National Assembly is a difficult place; for some, it’s toxic,” she added, saying that it is the place and not the elected officials who are toxic.

“It’s not an attack to express one’s feelings,” she concluded.

The spokesperson subsequently released an official statement from Bouazzi.

“Is the National Assembly as an institution toxic? The answer is obviously no. I have never targeted my fellow members of parliament or my comrades in solidarity. However, as a work environment, it is a space where there is manipulation and lies, and that is not healthy. Out of respect for the institution, I have always refused to find this normal.”

For his part, government leader Jolin-Barrette was quick to respond that evening.

“Haroun Bouazzi’s radical comments must once again be denounced,” he wrote.

He called for the MNA’s expulsion from the QS caucus, arguing that it was a matter for the authority of QS leader Ruba Ghazal.

“Being a member of parliament is a privilege that must be earned,” wrote Jolin-Barrette. “QS must stop excusing this behavior and take the necessary action by expelling him from its caucus. This is a test of leadership.”

In January, Bouazzi announced that he would not be running for re-election in 2026.

In November 2024, Bouazzi caused a storm in the National Assembly following a speech at a gala for the Club Avenir Foundation, a non-profit organization that works to integrate Maghreb communities in Canada.

“God knows I see it every day in the National Assembly: the construction of this Other, this Other who is Maghrebi, who is Muslim, who is Black or Indigenous, and whose culture is, by definition, dangerous or inferior,” he said at the time.

The female co-spokesperson and her male counterpart at the time, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, then insisted that the Assembly’s elected officials were not racist, but the MP refused to apologize, and at least two motions adopted by the elected officials condemned his remarks.

When he was expelled from the QS caucus last November as he was preparing to become independent, Rosemont MNA Vincent Marissal cited the Bouazzi affair as the catalyst for his decision to leave the party.

Marissal had indicated that he would have liked Bouazzi to be expelled from the caucus.