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QUEBEC — Accusing the Couillard government of playing with fire, the Parti Québécois Thursday launched a petition opposing plans to debate the issues of racism and systemic discrimination in Quebec.

But Premier Philippe Couillard fired back that the PQ’s indignation is rich coming from a party that created the divisive charter of values, which he described as one of the greatest operations in immigrant employment exclusion ever.

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“It is a stain in the recent history of Quebec,” Couillard fired across the floor of the legislature Thursday in answering a question about racism from PQ leader Jean-François Lisée.

To this day minority communities feel traumatized by that incident to the point some fear walking the streets because they are dressed differently from others, Couillard added.

Couillard reminded the house that it was Lisée who made a link between an opponent, Alexandre Cloutier, and a controversial Islamic radical in the recent PQ leadership race. Lisée also said he was worried about immigrant women wearing the burka because they might be hiding an AK-47 under it.