How do the interviewees understand the changes in Quebec’s politics since the time of their arrival?
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The interviewees are very aware of the changes in Quebec's policies since their arrival and how these changes can be labelled as a gravitation towards French views on issues such as religious markers and Islam. Globally and in Quebec, “many also recognise an evolution in public attention toward Islam”, where extreme racism and anti-Muslim hate have not only risen but have also become normalized and tolerated. In Sana’s 2015 interview, she states that there has been a “liberation of many racist things” in Quebec. This comment holds true almost 10 years later, not only in Quebec but across Canada, the US, the UK, and France. As she mentions, she got the “impression that Quebec was just becoming a French province again.” This illustrates how the French Islamophobic, right-wing, and authoritarian views towards Muslims and immigrants had seeped into Quebecois consciousness, making Quebec more hostile towards these immigrants (who may have been born or raised in Europe). This, in turn, created a similar feeling of frustration, sadness, and sometimes fear in these immigrants, much like what they had felt in France.
For those who lean more 'left,' the “debates [that] were so similar” in Quebec and France would have caused anger and a sense of regression. Of course, as “9/11 contributed to the production of a symbolic association of Islam and terrorism on a global scale,” these “debates” on the ‘safety’ of Muslims had become a topical conversation, especially for those with more fascist views who saw these “debates” as necessary. The shift from a tolerant Quebecois society regarding Islamic symbols to one that became more hypervigilant of Islamic markers (like the French) can be seen in Mandin’s article. In 2012, “Lounes” recalled a Quebecois man stating that “everybody does what they want here, it doesn’t bother anyone” when asked his opinion on the Muslim veil worn by a bank worker. This is in stark contrast to the 2013 Charter of Quebec Values, which “proposed to restrict the right of public sector employees to wear religious symbols. Rapidly, the debate focused on the case of Muslims.” This illustrates that since the arrival of the interviewees, the prejudices, restrictions, and barriers they had long sought to escape in France were becoming more common in Quebec's political discourse. This, along with a global increase in racism towards Muslims since their arrival, would have made the interviewees upset and disappointed with Quebec politics, where discussions about the acceptability of their existence have been debated. This resonates with how Muslim migrants from across the globe feel today.