{"id":201023,"date":"2019-02-06T00:09:29","date_gmt":"2019-02-06T05:09:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=201023"},"modified":"2019-02-06T00:09:29","modified_gmt":"2019-02-06T05:09:29","slug":"controversial-gatineau-city-councillor-questions-whether-the-earth-is-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/02\/06\/controversial-gatineau-city-councillor-questions-whether-the-earth-is-round\/","title":{"rendered":"Controversial Gatineau city councillor questions whether the Earth is round"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In an interview Tuesday, Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin acknowledged Lemieux’s comments about Islamophobia could be harmful. (File Photo<\/a>: Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MONTREAL \u2014 A Quebec municipal councillor who was already under fire for denying the existence of Islamophobia is drawing new scrutiny for recent comments questioning whether the Earth is round.<\/p>\n

Nathalie Lemieux of Gatineau, Que., created controversy last week after she told a reporter the word \u201cIslamophobia\u201d doesn’t exist for her. She was stripped of her title as deputy mayor but remains a councillor in Quebec’s fourth largest city.<\/p>\n

In an interview Tuesday, Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin acknowledged Lemieux’s comments about Islamophobia could be harmful.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it could affect the (city’s) reputation, but it’s only one person,\u201d he said by phone, calling Gatineau \u201ca model of integration.\u201d He said the city’s swift action to dissociate itself from Lemieux’s comments would limit the damage. \u201cI don’t think it will hurt much,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The mayor declined comment on another eye-opening remark from Lemieux, reported this week by Le Droit newspaper. In an online comment two weeks ago, Lemieux suggested there is a conspiracy to eliminate evidence that the Earth is flat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho decided that the Earth is round, and why should we believe it?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first question to ask\u201d she wrote, \u201cis now that people realize that it’s possible that the Earth is flat, why do they want to hide the explanations that prove it.\u201d She also wondered how much money is diverted to NASA and said she does not believe anything on the news, preferring to conduct her own research.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world is a stage and several actors are amusing themselves at our expense thinking they are more intelligent than us,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Lemieux’s assistant confirmed Tuesday that the councillor made the comments, which appeared under a news article about YouTube clamping down on videos promoting conspiracy theories. She said Lemieux was not available for an interview.<\/p>\n

The councillor first entered the spotlight last week when she told Le Droit that Islamophobia is a problem invented by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The newspaper also quoted her saying, \u201cThese people do a lot of things wrong, with their trucks and all that, it’s normal to be scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pedneaud-Jobin said Lemieux, who was first elected to council in 2017, is a good person who didn’t appreciate the impact of her comments about Muslims.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me that’s what is very serious \u2014 to make a connection between Muslims and all terrorists \u2014 mixing up things doesn’t make sense,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s dangerous, because it prejudges and makes life difficult for the Muslim community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lemieux was applauding Quebec Premier Francois Legault for his statement last week that there is no Islamophobia in Quebec. After Muslim groups denounced Legault’s comments, the premier’s office clarified to say Islamophobia exists but there is no culture or current of it in Quebec.<\/p>\n

The councillor apologized if anyone was hurt by her comments but remained defiant in a statement on her Facebook page Monday. She said Quebec society is far from being Islamophobic and she remains critical of \u201call cultural or religious practices that don’t respect human rights, the equality of women and men and the rights of children.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the loss of her deputy mayor title makes her wonder whether freedom of expression is in danger in Gatineau. Later in the day she changed her profile picture to a woman knight in armour with the statement, \u201cSometimes you need to remind yourself you’re a warrior and warriors don’t give up.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MONTREAL \u2014 A Quebec municipal councillor who was already under fire for denying the existence of Islamophobia is drawing new …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":200580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-201023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-news","mauthors-peter-rakobowchuk","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}