Muslim Council of Montreal slams PQ and sensationalist reporting from Journal de Montreal over recent halal meat controversy

March 15, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Montreal, Quebec, March 15th, 2012- The Muslim Council of Montreal (MCM) strongly condemned this morning the recent inflammatory culture war being instigated by the Parti Québécois and the Journal de Montreal regarding the issue of halal meat in Quebec.

"Once again we have the PQ and Journal de Montreal seeking to create a mass hysteria and frenzy by deliberating twisting and misrepresenting the facts in this issue,” stated Salam Elmenyawi, president of MCM. “While they would claim that halal meat slaughter contravenes ‘Quebec values’, the facts demonstrate that halal meat is slaughtered in accordance to food and safety quality control standards that are mandated by the federal government and this slaughter is regulated by both provincial and federal food-inspection standards."

MCM thanks Pierre Corbeil, Food and Agricultural Minister in Quebec, for identifying the comments of the PQ as being “alarmist” and rejecting their unfounded claims that halal meat slaughter was cruel or unsafe.

“If the PQ is truly concerned about animal safety, we invite them to do something about the existence of the inhumane puppy mills in the province,” Elmenyawi said. “Instead of acting responsibly and doing something worthwhile, it is clear that they prefer to agitate the public by fanning the flames of intolerance, ignorance and division.”


CONTACT:

Salam Elmenyawi

Muslim Council of Montreal (MCM)

Ph.: (514) 748-8427

E-mail: info@muslimcouncil.org

Website: http://www.muslimcouncil.org

 

The Muslim Council of Montreal (MCM) is an umbrella organization representing a number of Islamic institutions in the Montreal region. There are over 275,000 Muslims in Montreal, about 1,200,000 in Canada and 1.9 billion worldwide.


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