'Words can be knives': Premier urges Quebecers to cool the rhetoric

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard stressed the importance of respectful dialogue in the wake of the shooting at a Quebec City mosque that claimed the lives of six people.

"When I say that words matter, it means that words can hurt, words can be knives slashing at people's consciousness," he said Tuesday.

• Full coverage of the Quebec City mosque attack

Speaking to reporters, Couillardsaid it's easy to demonstrate solidarity following a tragedy.

"The challenge is to do it one month, three months or a year from now, when an election campaign happens," he said, adding that the news media also has a role to play.

• Alleged shooter attracted by Trump, far right
• Mosque attack symptom of 'populist hatred spreading,' says lawprof

Couillardurged politicians and the public to "think twice" about the "words we write, the words we utter."

'Our society is not perfect'

Couillard'scomments are part of a soul searching underway within Quebec's political class and news media, where, critics say, years of harping on questions of identity and religious accommodation have helpedbreed a culture of intolerance.

The attackhappened Sunday, when a gunman stormedinto theCentreCulturelIslamiquedeQubec(Islamic cultural centre of Quebec) during evening prayers.

The man accused in the shooting, 27-year-old AlexandreBissonnette, appears to have been drawn to the rhetoric of conservative politicians, including President Donald Trump andthe French far-right politician Marine Le Pen.

He was charged Monday with six countsof first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder while usinga restricted firearm.

Asked on Tuesday whether the atmosphere is "more insidious'' in Quebec than elsewhere,Couillardreplied "it is different in every community.''

"Every society has to live with its demons," he replied. "Our society is not perfect. No society is."

PQ leaderregretsburka comment

Earlier in the day,Parti QubcoisLeaderJean-FranoisLise acknowledged he had gone too far duringhis party's leadership race, when he suggested that an AK-47could behidden under aburka, a garment worn by some Muslim women.

"The rhetoric has to be toned down on every side of the debate,"Lise, who made identity politics a key focus of his leadership campaign,told CBC Montreal's Daybreak.

"I used an example of a terrorist incident in Africa where it actually happened.Not a good choice of argument.It was not my best line.It was not a good argument to put in the Quebec debate."

The Couillard government tried to legislatehate speech in 2015, following an uptick in hate crimes amidheated debate overthe PQ's proposed secular charter.

• Muslim leaders in Quebec City find it difficult to ignore tensions that preceded shooting

The premier abandoned the proposal, however, after the PQ raised concern it would restrict civil liberties.

On Tuesday, he said his government has invested in Montreal's anti-radicalization centre in attempt to curb extremism.

But he added that shootings such as the one at the mosqueare difficult for authorities to prevent.

"You can't follow step by step everybody in our society," he said.

Alleged shooter drawn to'far-right'

ricDebroise, who met Bissonnette ata conservative discussion group at Quebec City's Laval University, said the alleged shooter often spoke admiringly of Trump and Le Pen.

"He was not interested by our politics meeting because we are conservative and moderate right wing," Debroise told CBC news.

"He is more far-right or alt-right. That's why he never came back to our politics meeting."

Trumpenjoysthe support of the alt-right, a loosely defined political movement that includes white nationalists and white supremacists.

LePen, leader of the National Front in France, is known for her anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant positions

2 still in critical condition

Health officials said two of the 19 individuals wounded in the shooting remain in critical condition.

Dr.JulienClement, head of trauma atl'Enfant-Jsushospital, gave an update Tuesday on the condition of the five wounded who had still been in hospital.

Clement said one of the five has been released, whiletwo are recovering well.

The two stillin critical condition are likely to survive but may have long-term damage, he added.

They were expected to undergo surgery Tuesday. One of the victims sustained multiple bullet wounds.

Another 14people with minor injurieswere released, according to a statement from the hospital, the CHU de Qubec-Universit Laval.

• Everything we know so far about the victims

SouleymaneBah, head of a group representing Quebec City's Guinean Muslim community, saidthere will likely be a joint ceremony for the six victims of last weekend's mosque shooting before separate funerals are held.