Comedian and content creator Alexandre Champage is outraged by the inaction of passers-by who left his father “sitting in his blood” after he was violently attacked in the Montreal metro this weekend.
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“He is better physically, but psychologically, it destroyed him to know that he is no longer safe in his city,” confides the son, still in shock.
According to his account, his father, aged 67, was attacked from behind by two men on the Jean-Talon metro platform while he was going to the Pointe-à-Callière museum, without any passerby noticing. interpose.
“No one intervened. People were literally stepping over it. It was he himself who called the police, sitting in his own blood,” says Alexandre Champagne.
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He describes his father as “the most peaceful man in the world”, who was already very affected by the social climate reigning in his beloved city for several years.
The 38-year-old son says he would have the same rage if it was a stranger and not his own father who had been assaulted in this way. He sees his father as “the symbol that this kind of thing happens every day in Montreal.”
“Knowing that he is not safe in his city, he loses control. It’s incomprehensible. He is injured in the face, but I know that it is his psychological state which has taken a hit,” adds the artist who is also a photographer.
A bigger problem
Alexandre Champagne believes that the problem is bigger than what these two men did to his father. He explains that he has witnessed the deterioration of Montreal for years and criticizes the government’s inaction.
“For me, it’s simple, it’s the administrations that were there before that failed. The duty of politicians is to protect citizens. Our punitive measures do not work, but neither do the methods of reintegration. People in distress are not helped. Montreal is not safe.”
“I want to say: we give you money to be protected and take care of vulnerable people and what do you do with it? You spend billions on a new stadium or the return of the Expos,” laments the comedian who has no intention of taking the metro again with his 8-year-old daughter any time soon.
Alexandre Champagne confirms having been contacted by the team of Valérie Plante, the mayor of Montreal, to discuss this event.
His biggest wish? That better decisions be made and, above all, that we stop telling citizens that the government has no money to invest in prevention and education.
“I wish us peace and security, that would be fun! I have walked at night in El Salvador, Mexico and Guatemala and have never been afraid of people. In Montreal, I don’t go not. I just want to be at peace,” he confides.