Quebec City (AFP) – Visiting French far-right leader Marine Le Pen took aim at the Liberal Canadian government’s policies on immigration and citizenship in terror cases.
Canada last month introduced a bill to stop stripping citizenship from dual nationals convicted of terrorism and other serious crimes, moving to scuttle a measure introduced by the previous Tory administration. A similar debate is raging in France after the Paris terror attacks.
Speaking at a news conference in Quebec on Sunday, the National Front leader said the Canadian move was wrong.
“There is a very big danger” in wanting to keep radicalized individuals on one’s soil and only “false humanists” think otherwise, Le Pen said.
She also criticized the federal government’s decision to take in tens of thousands of refugees, many from Syria, saying they could pose a risk as she stressed the importance of language and identity.
“Quebec is not spared,” she said, referring to the refugee influx.
Canada aims to take in up to 57,000 refugees this year, double the number from 2015.
Le Pen did not specifically mention by name Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who released a statement to mark the International Day of La Francophonie hailing “Canada’s long traditions of democracy, freedom, and inclusivity.
“Official bilingualism is fundamental to our Canadian identity, and has helped us to become a society in which people from diverse cultures, origins, and religions can feel at home.”
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