Parti Québécois candidate: "Islam is incompatible with Western values"

Fatima Aboubakar, a Parti Québécois (PQ) candidate, sparked controversy with remarks arguing that Islam does not fit with the values prevailing in Western societies.

Aboubakar said it is "impossible" for a Muslim to belong to the same political party as a transgender person, pointing to what she sees as a conflict between some conservative religious values and some prevailing social values in the West.

What did she say in the interview?

The remarks came in an interview recorded on October 13, 2025 for the podcast "J'essaye d'arrêter", hosted by Gabriel Masson. In it, Aboubakar spoke about her personal experience of leaving Morocco and moving to Quebec.

She criticized what she described as the growing influence of Islam in Moroccan society, particularly what she saw as increasing rigidity in religious discourse and practice, and its consequences for women, in her view.

Speaking about the situation of women in Muslim-majority countries, she said: "It is impossible for a woman to walk down the street in Muslim countries without being harassed."

She also addressed what she called the "infiltration of the Muslim Brotherhood into institutions", a politically oriented Islamic movement. She noted that PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has also raised this issue, but that it remains, according to the report, little studied in Quebec.