One of André Boisclair’s victims is filing a civil suit against the former leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ). She is demanding $270,000 from him for the “violent” assaults, both physical and sexual, suffered during a single evening spent at his home ten years ago.
“Had it not been for the sexual and physical assaults orchestrated and committed by [André Boisclair] towards [le plaignant]he would not have experienced the descent into hell of recent years and all the damage resulting from it,” we can read in a lawsuit filed Thursday by the law firm Arsenault, Dufresne and Wee.
“This is an important step, but difficult for our client who is still living today with the consequences of the brutal attack he suffered. Through this lawsuit, he wishes to receive compensation to allow him to continue his healing process and put an end to a nightmare that has lasted for several years,” commented the victim’s lawyer, Ms.e Virginie Dufresne-Lemire.
André Boisclair pleaded guilty in June 2022 to two counts of sexual assault committed on two young men, on different occasions, one in 2014 and the other in 2015. Sentenced to two years less a day in prison , he was granted parole in March 2023, after two unsuccessful attempts. He ultimately served a third of his sentence.
The victim attacked in 2014 is now turning to the civil court to obtain compensation for the consequences of the attack on her life. His identity is still protected by the court.
“Disastrous” consequences
Anxiety, concentration problems, drug and alcohol dependence, André Boisclair’s first victim sets out in his request the consequences of his attack. During the criminal proceedings, he also testified before the court that he had experienced several episodes of depression which notably prevented him from finishing his university studies. “I had plans to take my life,” he confided, crying.
The man, who was 21 years old at the time of the events, began exchanging messages with André Boisclair around December 2013, according to the court document. A few weeks later, he was invited by the former politician to his residence. Before going there, the victim told the former politician that she did not want to have anal sex. When he arrives, he notices that André Boisclair is not alone.
“ [Il] sees what appear to be different drugs on the bedside table,” the motion reads. The one who was a deputy, minister, leader of the PQ and general delegate of Quebec in New York from 2012 to 2013 would have served him a glass of wine, from which the victim would have only taken a few sips, fearing that it would contain drug.
During the evening, certain consensual sexual acts were performed between the victim and the third person present, but at one point, a fourth man joined them. André Boisclair would then have expressed his wish to see him be sodomized. Faced with the victim’s refusal to have anal sex, the ex-politician becomes “insistent” and uses a “threatening” tone. He then allegedly told the two men to grab the victim in order to penetrate her. The young man struggled, but André Boisclair held him by the chest while one of the two other men tried to penetrate him. “André Boisclair orchestrated a situation where he and two other people sexually assaulted the Plaintiff in a violent and despicable manner,” the document states. Until today, the two accomplices remain unidentified. “ [La victime] is justified in demanding compensation for all damages resulting from these brutal attacks,” the petition states. In his lawsuit, he also mentions having to follow continuous therapy for three years now and estimates that he will have many more years of consultations. “ [André Boisclair] could not ignore the disastrous consequences of his behavior,” the lawsuit concludes.