A Quebec candidate says she regrets comments she made two years ago calling for an end to circumcision and “Jewish” to be removed from a Montreal hospital.

The comments made by the ruling Parti Quebecois’ Tania Longpre, then a blogger for Journal de Montreal, in a Facebook exchange were made public this week.

Along with calling for an end to circumcision, Longpre said “Jewish” should be removed from name of Jewish General Hospital, a government-funded institution that would be affected by a bill proposed by the party’s leader banning public sector employees from wearing religious attire at work.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Jewish groups and other religious minorities in the province are worried about the proposed change to the Quebec Values Charter that was tabled in parliament Nov. 7 following weeks of debate. The proposal has been criticized for banning public sector workers from wearing kippahs, headscarves or turbans but allowing small Catholic symbols to be worn in the form of jewelry.

Longpre, who is running in a Montreal district, told a Quebec radio station that the comments do not reflect her current views.

“It’s what I thought two years ago but I think we can all evolve,” she said according to the Montreal Gazette. “Yes I regret having written this. I regret having thought this. Do I think this today? No.”

Longpre also wrote that hospital doctors and staff should be prohibited from having Hasidic sidecurls.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs has asked Bernard Drainville, the Parti Quebecois minister for democratic institutions and the man behind the proposed charter, to reprimand Longpre.

Drainville said Longpre’s views are not reflective of the party or government.

“Before being a candidate she was a citizen, an individual who had freedom of speech. Now she’s a PQ candidate and she must endorse, as I think she did, the policies and positions that were taken by the PQ government so far,” Drainville said on Tuesday, according to CTV News.

Longpre’s comments, which were leaked to a Quebec City newspaper, also included disparaging remarks about Parti Quebecois leader and provincial premier Pauline Marois.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount