A Globe and Mail columnist who posed an alternative view as to what prompted Kimveer Gill to kill one young woman and injure 19 others at Dawson College has caused a huge debate in Canada. Jan Wong, who is known for her somewhat confrontational interviews with Canadian luminaries, wrote in her September 16th column that the alienation that immigrants face in Quebec might have been a factor in Gill’s and two previous incidents in which shooters opened fire in Montreal, in which the shooters were Canadian immigrants. The general assertion is that Wong raised was seen by Quebec was an attack against a culture that has been perceived in other parts of Canada as irrelevant.

The relationship between Quebec, a primarily French-speaking province and the rest of Canada has always been tense, yet Montreal, the largest city in Quebec has always had a large English-speaking community. It is also a province that has struggled to keep its own cultural identity, separate from the rest of Canada. Wong, who is Asian is also a third-generation Quebecker, said to Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) that many of the attacks leveled against her were racist and sexist in nature and feels that while she was born in Quebec, her cultural background has been unnecessarily brought to the forefront. Even the Prime Minister of Canada, who presumably took a break from kissing George Bush's ass and trying to defend Canada's role as "peacekeepers" ie: shooting ducks in Afghanistan, weighed in on Wong's article:

A recent column brought to my attention (‘Get under the desk, Sept. 16) in essence suggests that the Dawson College shootings should be blamed on Quebec francophone society.

While the writer is entitled to her point of view, the argument is patently absurd and without foundation. It is not only grossly irresponsible on her part, it is also completely prejudiced to lay blame on Quebec society in this manner.

Quebeckers from all walks of life, both French speaking and English speaking, were horrified by the events that took place at Dawson College. The same way that Canadians from all walks of life were stunned by this savage, senseless attack on innocent students from one deranged individual.

It should be obvious that the actions of one individual do not reflect on the public mindset of an entire community or an entire class of people. Be it Marc Lepine’s murderous rampage at l’Ecole Polytechnique in 1989, or Kimveer Gill’s shooting spree at Dawson, the event was the evil action of one unstable person. These actions deserve our unqualified moral condemnation, not an excuse for printing prejudices masked in the language of social theory.

In response, Wong replied:

"I feel that it's opportunistic," Wong told CBC News. "In Stephen Harper's case, judging from his letter, I don't think he actually read the article. I think that they want votes in Quebec and they see this as a cheap and easy way to get it. Dump on a journalist."

Wong said Harper just wants to "patch things up with Charest" over their differences on scrapping the gun registry.

"I felt it was really crass, however, he also has the right to his opinion," she said.

What is most disturbing to me, was the vitrol of the comments following Wong's column in the Globe, so much that the Globe closed the online comments. But one of the most interesting things is that the 'race card' has been brought up, even though she did not mention anything about racism in her article, but did mention the language and cultural barriers that exist in Quebec. Oh and Wong has been called a racist(?) too. I think we need a definition that we all agree on. Here is the article in question.