Charlie Hebdo sells out in Canada, 5,000 more copies on the way
1,500 copies distributed in 6 provinces so far
The scores of disappointed Canadians who showed up at stores Friday hoping to buy Charlie Hebdo only to leave empty-handed will soon get another chance to land a copy of the fast-selling French weekly.
While about 1,500 copies of the satirical magazine were to be available in 135 Canadian stores in the coming days, the national sales director for Canadian distributor LMPI said a second order has been placed for 5,000 more copies.
"We hope it will be early next week," Louis-Philip Vermeersch told The Canadian Press as he noted that usually only 100 copies of the weekly are sent to Canada.
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Most of the extra copies — 75 per cent — will be going to Quebec.
That may offer some consolation to about 100 angry people who lined up at one Montreal magazine store Friday morning hoping to pick up a copy of the magazine.
A downtown outlet of the Maison de la Presse Internationale had expected to receive 40 copies, but an employee initially announced that only five had arrived.
Sorey Chum said the five copies were to be kept for "his bosses."
'Everyone wants to be a part of this'
But a few hours later, he said the store had found another 20 copies of the issue, which is the first one produced since a pair of Islamic extremists opened fire at the magazine's Paris offices on Jan. 7, killing 12 people.
Some of the people in the Montreal lineup were upset at the scarcity of the weekly.
"They were expecting 40 copies and they only got five — just the regular weekly delivery," a frustrated Nicole Desormeaux said before news of the extra 20 copies surfaced.
"I don't know what to say ... I'm going home. I've been here since seven o'clock this morning and it's now 10:30.
"It cost me $10 for parking. I was 32 among the first 40 people and then they told us they received only five copies ... I'm very, very disappointed."
Our phone is non-stop all week, people want more than one copy. We're getting calls from all over Canada. We're getting calls from the U.S.A. We got a call from Paris, that they can't find a copy there.- Nirmaljit Singh Chadha, Toronto newsstand manager
Desormeaux said she really wanted a copy because "it's a page of history."
Rheinhold Willcox, a 21-year-old university student from Boston, said he waited in line because he wanted to support freedom.
"I think everyone wants to be a part of this to kind of show the world that we stand by freedom of speech and things like that," he said.
Willcox, who is attending McGill University, admitted he had never heard of Charlie Hebdo before last week.
Reserving copies
While the vast majority of the copies were to be carried by Quebec retailers, the magazine was also to be available at a handful of stores in B.C., Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Some stores said their limited number of copies were already spoken for by people who reserved them ahead of time.
Stephane Gelinas, who works at one of the 33 outlets operated by the Renaud-Bray chain of bookstores, said more than 500 copies had been reserved at his establishment.
"Before Wednesday, over 200 people left their names, but then on Wednesday, I think because of radio and TV shows, more and more people came and phoned and we decided to stop at around 550-560," he said.
Gelinas added that his store usually receives only four copies.
"Usually we sell one, two, maybe three ... we had one customer who came every week for the last eight to 10 years," he said, before taking delivery of 70 copies.
'A small symbol of courage'
Jacqueline Gaston was one of the lucky ones who came into his store for one.
"I ordered it the day after the tragedy in Paris," she said as she waved the magazine. Its controversial front page showed a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad weeping and holding a sign reading "I Am Charlie" with the words "All Is Forgiven" above him.
"I've lived my life with Charlie Hebdo (and) it's a small symbol of courage," Gaston added.
"Demand is like crazy — crazy," he said. "Our phone is non-stop all week, people want more than one copy. We're getting calls from all over Canada. We're getting calls from the U.S.A. We got a call from Paris, that they can't find a copy there.
"It's a collector's item. I'm sure people don't know what they're buying or why they're buying until they read it."
Charlie Hebdo also made the issue available through its iPhone and Android apps. It is on sale for $3.49 through the Apple App Store and $4.24 through Google Play.
Customers lined up again in Paris on Thursday to try to get copies. Even though it had a special increased print run of five million copies in 16 different languages, it sold out before dawn for a second straight day.
Backlash in Muslim world
On Friday, anger flared again over the latest caricature of the Prophet Muhammad, with four people reported killed and dozens injured at a protest in the West African country of Niger, while violent clashes broke out between demonstrators and police in Pakistan, Jordan and Algeria.
Muslim leaders in Canada acknowledged the cover was sensitive for many of the faith, but called for a peaceful and constructive reaction.
"For all Muslims, no matter where in the world you live or specific denomination you are apart of, we all hold Prophet Muhammad very dear and near in our hearts," Safwan Chboudry of the Ahmadiyya Muslims Jama'at Canada told CBC News.
Chboudry says that while the cover "does hurt, does hit home" for many Muslims, the opportunity should be used to build a better understanding of Islam and Muhammad among non-Muslims in Canada. His organization is holding outreach programs in several provinces aimed at educating the general public about Muhammad's role in Islam.
With files from CBC News