Coalition Avenir Québec Leader François Legault says provincial police have set up a direct line of communication for candidates dealing with threats or who are concerned about safety during the election campaign.
Legault confirmed candidates can call the Sûreté du Québec phone number “seven days a week, 24 hours a day” if they urgently need to speak to a police officer.
“(The number) was sent to each leader of the five parties,” Legault told reporters at a news conference Friday in Lévis.
Bernard Drainville, a star candidate for the Coalition Avenir Québec and a former Parti Québécois minister, said he received a text message in the morning with the contact information in case there is any risk to his or his family’s safety.
“I got it just before coming here,” he said.
The emergency phone number comes amid threats and vandalism targeting those on the campaign trail. Legault had called for calm Thursday while also urging police to be ready for anyone who needs it.
Liberal candidate Marwah Rizqy, who is pregnant, revealed that she has received death threats and that last week a man called police to tell them he had murdered her. She said she felt penalized, too, since provincial police recommended to her not to campaign and for her staff to stay away from her constituency office.
The Quebec Liberal Party also reported that the riding office of Enrico Ciccone in Montreal was robbed and vandalized sometime Tuesday night. He said he also recently received death threats, but it’s not clear if the two incidents are related.
Earlier this week, the Conservative Party of Quebec said two of its volunteers had been threatened in separate incidents when putting up election posters over the weekend.
Security has been high around political hopefuls even though the election campaign is only in its sixth day. Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon told reporters he was given bulletproof vests to keep him safe.
— with files from The Canadian Press