Premier François Legault was forced to clarify remarks he made Monday when he appeared to forget recent history in asserting that Quebec politicians didn’t face political violence similar to the attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump.
Speaking to reporters at the Council of the Federation meeting in Halifax, Legault said what happened over the weekend to Trump “is worrying for democracy in the United States” but “we don’t have that — violence against politicians, in Quebec.”
Legault’s comments had the leader of the Parti Québécois inviting the premier to brush up on the province’s history.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon noted that PQ leaders have twice been the targets of fatal attacks — in 1984 and most recently during the 2012 provincial election night.
“It is worrying to see the premier of Quebec make such a statement, which demonstrates a complete absence of historical memory on basic facts,” St-Pierre Plamondon wrote on X. “Almost twelve years ago only, one of his predecessors was literally the victim of a political attack which came close to hitting her and which cost the life of one man in addition to seriously injuring another.”
He was referring to provincial election night in 2012, when a gunman attacked a PQ rally in Montreal, killing a lighting technician and seriously injuring another while trying to enter a venue where then-PQ leader Pauline Marois was giving a victory speech.
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St-Pierre Plamondon also pointed to 1984, when a gunman burst into the legislature with the aim of killing then-premier René Lévesque and other members of the PQ. He killed three people and wounded 13 others. The 40th anniversary of the shooting was marked this year at the provincial legislature.
Legault emerged not long after his initial comments, and tried to calm the tempest by speaking once again with reporters.
“First of all, obviously I remember, like everyone else, the attack against Pauline Marois in 2012, but what I wanted to say is that there is currently no polarization or radicalization in Quebec,” Legault said.
Attempts to reach Marois were unsuccessful on Monday.
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