World Bulletin / News Desk

Three months after beginning in Quebec, controversial European movement PEGIDA is set to host its first rally this weekend in Montreal.

The event, announced on the group’s Facebook page, is expected to begin Saturday at 4 p.m. on the outer edge of Little Maghreb, a section of Villeray–St-Michel–Parc-Extension that is home to a large number of the city’s Muslim businesses and residents. From there, the marchers will reportedly head south and stop outside the Islamic centre run by Adil Charkaoui, a local educator who fights against Islamophobia and was once accused by the federal government of being a terrorist.

This weekend’s PEGIDA rally is the first to be held on Canadian soil, and it is already drawing harsh criticism from elected officials at all levels.

“Among (PEGIDA’s) followers, there are fundamentalist Christians and members of Canada’s National Front, a movement clearly against immigration and fiercely anti-Islam,” David wrote. “We believe that the vast majority of Quebecers categorically reject such extremism.”

The president of Quebec’s Human Rights Commission, Jacques Frémont, has also expressed deep concern over the PEGIDA movement in Quebec.

PEGIDA Quebec’s administrators responded to the criticism on the Facebook page Wednesday, writing that “if PEGIDA Quebec bothers the National Assembly, it’s because we’ve struck the heart of the problem.”