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Several days ago, Hadjira Belkacem, founder and president of the Association for Muslim Burial in Quebec, published a message on social media that quickly ignited controversy. Framed as a rejection of “assimilation,” the post painted a harsh portrait of Quebec society, associating it with alcohol abuse, casual sex, family breakdown and abandonment of elders. The backlash was swift.

Among those who responded was Fatima Aboubakr, a Muslim woman of Moroccan origin who says she came to Quebec “in search of secularism, gender equality, and freedom of conscience.”

Initially, she hesitated. “First of all, I saw the post, and I didn’t want to react,” she says. “I was shocked when I saw it, but I tried to ignore it.” Her decision changed when she realized the author’s influence. “When I saw that this woman is one of the directors or founders of an association with 50,000 members, that’s when I said no—I have to respond, because this cannot go unanswered.”

Aboubakr describes the post as “verbal intimidation, directed at the society that welcomed her,” adding bluntly: “What this woman says is lies; what she is telling is not true.”

For her, the criticism collapses under one basic question: “If everything she mentioned consists of negative points about Quebec… why is she here?”

Drawing on her own experience, Aboubakr contrasts Quebec with the societies many immigrants leave behind. “The only difference is that for us, everything is done in secret,” she says. In Quebec, by contrast, “we take responsibility for our choices… we make them transparently, before everyone,” which allows society to intervene when harm appears.

She is particularly firm on women’s rights. “In her society, as a woman, she cannot walk 50 meters in the street without being harassed or intimidated,” Aboubakr says, denouncing violence against women that she describes as “so normalized that women live through it in silence.”

Beyond one post, Aboubakr worries about integration. “All the efforts we make toward integration—she destroys them. With a single post, she destroys them.” Her vision is different: “We want Quebecers of all faiths, all nationalities, all origins, united around the project of ‘We are Quebecers.’”