Immigrant commission chairs testy as hearings wrap in Mauricie

The co-chairs overseeing the Quebec commission on the so-called reasonable accommodation debate showed impatience with the final batch of residents who came to voice their concerns on Thursday.

Co-chairs Charles Taylor and Gérard Bouchard had a number of exchanges with participants on the controversial topic of integration of cultural minorities into Quebec society.

The commission wrapped up a third and final day of testimony in Trois-Rivières, about halfway between Montreal and Quebec City.

Bouchard, the brother of former Quebec premier Lucien Bouchard, questioned a citizen, Henri Pépin, who spoke about the number of Quebecers dwindling in the future if immigration continues at its current rate.

"If it continues, we will lose our identity, our values, our customs," Pepin said, proposing that Quebec put a halt on immigration to the province for 10 years and invest the same amount of money it does on immigration into health care.

Pépin continued that it was only a matter of time before minorities became the majority in Quebec, comments that irritated Bouchard.

He dismissed Pepin's remarks as "fantasies" and asked the man if he had any demographic studies to back up what Bouchard called exaggerated claims.

Bouchard, a historian and sociologist, and Taylor, a philosopher, are heading the provincial commission called by Premier Jean Charest to study the issue of reasonable accommodation, which hasbeen prominent innewspapers and on airwavesover the past year.

Taylor came to the defence of Quebec and Canadian election officials after a resident denounced the decision by them to allow some Muslim women to vote with their faces covered.

Taylor made it clear that Quebec's director general of elections only changed its position after receiving thousands of heinous e-mails.

Meanwhile, human rights lawyer René Duval suggested to the co-chairs that a referendum on the controversial question might be the answer.

The hearings resume next week.