(Montreal) Ten years after the Metropolis attack, a duty of memory is still necessary to protect democracy against violent and hate speech, argues the former Premier of Quebec, Pauline Marois.
Updated yesterday at 4:34 p.m.
This Sunday marks the 10e anniversary of this tragedy where a shooter entered the evening of September 4, 2012 with the aim of killing Mme Marois, then newly elected head of the Quebec government, and “as many separatists as possible”.
Richard Henry Bain ultimately failed to reach the leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ) at the time, but he killed a stage technician, Denis Blanchette, in addition to injuring another, David Courage.
“I believe that we have a duty of memory in this regard,” said Ms.me Marois on Sunday morning during a meeting with some twenty PQ candidates to talk about the place of women in Quebec, with the current leader of the PQ, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
And above all, never forget to act on all fronts, in all respects, to protect our democracy, to keep violent and hateful speeches away from us, as we have heard in recent days.
Pauline Marois, former Premier of Quebec
On September 4, 2012, the moment was historic for Quebec: for the very first time, a woman had just been elected Premier.
It was therefore in front of a Metropolis full to bursting that Mme Marois appeared before his PQ supporters for his victory speech shortly before midnight that evening.
While at the podium, the new Prime Minister is interrupted by two bodyguards who quickly escort her off stage.
While confusion reigned in the room, the situation evolved at full speed behind the scenes. With a single bullet, Richard Henry Bain killed Denis Blanchette and seriously injured David Courage.
The shooter is however slowed down in his progress when his weapon jams after the first shot. He therefore decides to start a fire and try to escape.
In the end, he did not get far, since the police quickly arrested him. In a scene filmed by a Radio-Canada camera, he shouted: “The English are waking up. »
Once the — relative — calm was restored, Mme Marois came back on stage to finish her speech and asked people to leave the room in downtown Montreal in peace.
Richard Henry Bain was eventually convicted in 2016 of one count of second-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder for the shooting outside the Metropolis.
In particular, he confessed to his psychiatrist that he wanted to set the theater on fire and kill “as many separatists as possible”.
Mme Marois led a minority Parti Québécois government from 2012 to 2014.
Lessons learned, says François Legault
Asked about the 10 years of the Metropolis attack, the leader of the Coalition avenir Québec, François Legault, recalled that the situation has changed since 2012.
“Having discussed it a bit with my bodyguards and the Sûreté du Québec, I think that there are still lessons that have been learned”, underlined the head of the Coalition avenir Québec, during a point release in Laval.
“I think today it has evolved in another direction. It escalated with social media. Almost everywhere in the world, we are looking at this. The solutions are not easy and not obvious, but we must look into it. »
The day before, Mr. Legault had reiterated that he did not rule out, if his party obtains a second mandate, to legislate to find means of reducing these attacks, in particular those on social media.