Parti quebecois leader Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon has come under fire for comments he made linking immigrants to increased crime rates in Montreal.  PSPP specifically cites a a special investigation undertaken by Quebecor which shows that 12 of 50 murders committed in Quebec so far were committed by people under the age of 21. The PQ leader goes out of his way to link the crime to “demographic changes”. Though, the arguments that PSPP makes are nothing new as Ted Rutland writes in an opinion piece published in The Rover.

Rutland, an associate professor  in the Geography, Planning and Environment Department at Concordia University, our guest for this episode, maps out the long history of discourse that attempts to ring alarm bells between increased crime and increased immigration.

Today’s episode of Metropolis examines the history of fear mongering around immigration and crime in Quebecois political discourse. Once fringe concepts now they have entered the mainstream. Rutland points out the problematic histories of such discourse, naming arguments by the former lawyer for the Montreal Police brotherhood where he said “I’ve had enough of Blacks who live in the margins of society and make certain neighbourhoods unlivable and certain metro stations dangerous,” in La press.

Rutland and Kalden discuss the progression of white supremacist concepts of ethnic criminality and their slow creep into mainstream discourse. The two paint out the allyship between montreal police, historically known for numerous incidents of racial profiling and brutality, and right wing  forces in quebec that seek to create a sense of fear that only a well funded police can fight. With the Parti quebecois currently polling in majority territory, could we see these kinds of conflations gain ground? Tune in to find out!