Stephane Gendron, the Huntingdon, Quebec mayor, said that he would not ask for a re-election after had said that the fellow councillors did not have "the balls" to raise their voice for the right thing. He accused them of racism as well.

The Huntingdon, Quebec mayor got furious as the town council refused the approval of a business plan which was proposed by a Muslim group from the southern part of Quebec. The refusal came on Aug 14.

Mr Gendron informed that the plan by the Arab-Muslim group had presented a plan for approval. The plan was to build a mosque and a cemetery in Huntingdon which is about 75km from Montreal. The plan was also to invest over $1 million for the development of an industrial park in the town and its surrounding area.

The Huntingdon Mayor was talking to QMI Agency. He said that Huntingdon would not have spent a single cent if the plan was approved. The reason, he stated, behind the disapproval of the plan was strange. The constituents did not want Muslims coming to Huntingdon. At least that is what the councillors' prerogative is.

Mr Gendron opined that it is unjust to refuse a plan on the basis of a popular opinion. It is not a valid reason the local population is not much in favour of the Arab Muslims. He informed QMI Agency that the reason behind the lack of success of his leadership were the councillors who did not have "the balls" to raise their voice for the right thing.

Mr Gendron promised that he would not leave before pushing the project further before the end of his tenure in November. On the other hand, he did not believe that he would seek for a re-election. However, the council of Huntingdon has refuted what Mr Gendron accused them of.

Nadia Debbabi informed that the reason behind her voting against the proposal was that the suggested land to build the cemetery had already been reserved because of commercial purposes. Ms Debbabi is a councillor who has a Tunisian origin. She found no reason to be accused of being a racist. Ms Debbabi added that the mayor had the tendency to go for inconsiderate methods to achieve his targets.