Quebec’s international relations minister says Trump’s comments about Gaza ‘appalling’

The Quebec Minister responsible for the Status of Women, Martine Biron, responds to the Opposition during Question Period on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024 at the Quebec Legislative Assembly. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

Quebec’s International Relations Minister Martine Biron said she found Donald Trump’s comments about the Gaza Strip “appalling.”

The American president said that the United States should take control of the Strip and that the Palestinians in Gaza should be moved elsewhere.

“I think it’s appalling because they’ve just come out of two years of appalling war. And I think these people need humanitarian aid. So it bothered me,” the minister told a news scrum at the National Assembly on Wednesday.

Biron also said that the American president lacked “respect for the Palestinians” and pointed out that Quebec had “always favoured a negotiated two-state agreement.

On Monday, the U.S. President backed down at the last minute on his intention to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian products and gave Canada a 30-day reprieve, though the threat remains.

The minister said Quebec would “continue to do business in the United States,” adding at the same time that we needed to “diversify our markets.”

“Yes, the Trump administration is putting a lot of pressure on our economy, and we’re getting organized, but we also have relationships with Democratic states where things are working,” she added.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 5, 2025.