Metropolis attack | The police blamed by the Court

A “significant flaw” in the security plan of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) and the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) allowed Richard Henry Bain to carry out the Metropolis attack on election night of the Parti Québécois in 2012. This unprecedented attack in the modern history of Quebec could have been easily avoided with a better plan for the police forces, concluded the Superior Court, which thus awarded $292,000 to four survivors whose lawsuit made it possible to understand the extent of the police disorganization that evening.

“For lack of communication and coordination in the deployment of their personnel, both the SQ and the SPVM failed in their obligation to ensure the safety of the public, in this case that of the plaintiffs, by executing a safety plan which ‘provided no police protection to the very place where the new Premier of Quebec was to be evacuated following her speech,’ wrote Superior Court Judge Philippe Bélanger in his 105-page decision obtained by The Press.

“We knew the road would be long and difficult. But this judgment is proof that ordinary citizens can obtain justice even against governmental institutions,” reacted Ms.^e Virginie Dufresne-Lemire, plaintiffs’ lawyer.

That evening, Guillaume Parisien, Audrey Dulong-Bérubé, Jonathan Dubé and Gaël Ghiringhelli were stage technicians and were behind the Metropolis when Richard Henry Bain opened fire, killing Denis Blanchette and seriously injuring Dave Courage, friends and colleagues applicants.

They later suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, bouts of depression, and alcohol and drug abuse, as well as other mental health and relationship issues. M^me Dulong-Bérubé made three suicide attempts. They attribute this to the aftermath of the events of September 4, 2012.

In Justice Bélanger’s opinion, these injuries were indeed caused by the fault of the police forces.

A routine request

“Simply put, there was a breach in the security perimeter, the assassin took advantage of it and his victims were the first people to stand in his way”, can we read in the judgment. “The presence of normally cautious and competent agents would have disrupted Bain’s plan before he could attack the plaintiffs and their colleagues,” said the judge.

In their absence, the killer was able to walk 74 seconds between his car and the back of the Métropolis, while he was wearing a balaclava, dressing gown and long weapon, before opening fire.

The evidence reveals that the SQ expected the SPVM to provide surveillance around the building, while the provincial corps took care of the interior and the close guard of M^me Marois. However, the SQ only made a routine request that did not involve more resources than during other partisan events during the election campaign, and the SPVM did not analyze the manpower required to secure the perimeter.

The SPVM “essentially responded to the request for assistance from the SQ by assigning a pair of police officers and a patrol vehicle without specifying the exact location where they should be near the Metropolis,” noted Judge Bélanger. This plan was not updated during the evening, which turned out to be victorious for M^me Marois and his party, the Parti Québécois.

“This is behavior that is reckless” given the scale of the event and the social context, according to the court, in a Quebec shaken for months by student demonstrations in the spring. maple.

Threats

In addition, six threats had been made just before election night, we learned during the trial. Five of them, published on Facebook or Twitter, directly targeted M^me Marois and contained violent language, including death threats. At least two of them had been written by teenagers.

The threats “were promptly investigated” and “did not require an immediate reaction from the police, nor a reassessment of the security plan”, pleaded the police forces. The court does not question the investigations carried out on this subject, but “the mere issuance of these threats, even unfounded, contributes to the already tense context in which this election evening was held”, it is underlined.

Despite this, the defendants argued that the attack was “unpredictable and therefore impossible to detect” since Richard Henry Bain acted as a “lone wolf”, an argument the court rejected.

He also criticizes the SQ agents for having “been somehow blinded by their duty to protect Mr.^me Marois and his family to the detriment of the protection of the public”, a duty which the SQ could not discharge without ensuring that the SPVM takes responsibility for it.

Lessons to be learned

The plaintiffs in this case each claimed $175,000 in non-pecuniary damages from the police, in addition to expenses related to therapy and other treatments followed after the events. Judge Bélanger instead awarded them $70,000 each in non-pecuniary damages and part of the expenses claimed.

They also asked for punitive damages of $20,000 from the SPVM and $100,000 from the SQ, which the court rejected since “the police forces in this case cannot be attributed with intentional interference” with the plaintiffs’ rights.

As for the executive report prepared at the request of the Minister of Public Security to shed light on the events of the evening – about which the SQ fought in vain to keep it secret – Judge Bélanger speaks of a “sloppy” making which “does not constitute a real examination of conscience by the SQ”. The police force has nevertheless learned lessons and updated its practices since 2012.

“We hope that the City and the Attorney General will take note of the judgment, show humility and not appeal in order to allow the plaintiffs to move on,” said Mr.^e Dufresne-Lemire, who teamed up with M^e Alain Arsenault, M.^e Justin Wee M^e Imane Melab and M^e M’Mah Nora Touré.

The thread of events

September 4, 2012

After a turbulent maple spring, Jean Charest’s Liberal Party was driven from power and Pauline Marois, then leader of the Parti Québécois, was elected Premier of Québec. As she and her supporters celebrate at the Metropolis, Richard Henry Bain arrives behind the building and opens fire. He kills Denis Blanchette and seriously wounds Dave Courage before his gun jams.

January 23, 2013

At the request of the Minister of Public Security, the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) produces a report on the PQ election night at the Métropolis. It is not made public until April 2022, after the SQ unsuccessfully tried to keep it confidential. Judge Philippe Bélanger, of the Superior Court, does not mince his words and speaks of a “sloppy” confection in his decision of November 30, 2022.

2014

Technician Dave Courage, injured by Richard Henry Bain in 2012, is suing Équipe Spectra – owner of the Métropolis – and the Quebec government for $295,000. An amicable agreement is reached a year later.

September 4, 2015

Stage technician Guillaume Parisien files a lawsuit against the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) and the SQ, which he holds responsible for not having prevented the attack committed three years earlier. Audrey Dulong-Bérubé, Jonathan Dubé and Gaël Ghiringhelli joined the prosecution of Mr. Parisien on October 21, 2015.

August 24, 2016

Richard Henry Bain is found guilty of the unpremeditated murder of Denis Blanchette and three attempted murders. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, a sentence that the Court of Appeal upheld in March 2019.

March 28, 2022

Opening of the lawsuit brought by the four technicians against the SPVM and the SQ. “We were cannon fodder! “, plague Audrey Dulong-Bérubé, whose life has since been rotten by anxiety, alcoholism and suicide attempts.

November 30, 2022

Judge Bélanger concludes that a “significant flaw” in the SPVM and SQ security plan allowed Richard Henry Bain to commit the Metropolis attack. He awards $292,000 to the four technicians, whose lawsuit has made it possible to understand the extent of the mess that evening.

Frederik-Xavier Duhamel, The Press