(Quebec) The bill on the protection of elected officials raises concerns at Québec solidaire, which is worried about the “possible criminalization” of citizen actions. The leader of the Conservative Party Éric Duhaime denounces the initiative of the Legault government, and emphasizes that it is not a “left-right” issue.
“It certainly concerns us. I am not convinced that the balance has been found, no, with what was named in the parliamentary committee,” said the interim co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire, Christine Labrie, at a press briefing on Tuesday.
She is concerned about the warning from the four major union centers, which are concerned about the risks of “criminalizing democratic participation” in Andrée Laforest’s bill to protect elected officials against intimidation and harassment.
They target the articles indicating that an elected official targeted by “words or gestures which unduly hinder the exercise of his functions or infringe his right to private life” can request an injunction from the Superior Court, as well as a article allowing a fine of $50 to $500 to be imposed on a person who, “during a meeting of any council of a municipal body, causes disorder in such a way as to disrupt the proceedings of the meeting”.
Mme Labrie also highlighted the passage in parliamentary committee of the Director General of Elections, who absolutely does not want to receive the power to investigate citizens at the request of elected officials of the National Assembly.
“Let’s admit that you are the victim of a threat. We should take recourse against a citizen, we as a neutral and independent institution. The citizen might think that we are defending you when we are there to manage elections,” explained last week the Director General of Elections, Jean-François Blanchet, in a parliamentary committee on Wednesday.
Mme Labrie hopes that Mme Laforest will agree to improve his bill during its detailed study. “Several groups have expressed concerns that deserve to be taken seriously,” she said.
Not a left-right issue, says Duhaime
At the other end of the political spectrum, the leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, Éric Duhaime, is delighted to see other groups criticizing the bill that he denounced when it was introduced last April. “This is not a left-right issue. This is a fundamental and democratic issue. The fact that elected officials are intimidated is very serious, it must be punished,” he said, but he fears abuses. He highlights, for example, the highly publicized case of the municipality of Sainte-Pétronille, which issued a formal notice to around a hundred citizens.
The municipal council is one of the few democratic forums left to us. The concrete impact is that people will express themselves less, and that fines will be given to those who prevent people from going around in circles and to skeptics.
Éric Duhaime, leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec
He believes that there is often great proximity between city directors, mayors and police directors. “We can hope that the judge will make a good decision, but we cannot be certain. It’s wishful thinking,” lamented Mr. Duhaime.
The PQ trusts the judges
For its part, the Parti Québécois affirms that it intends to “request a certain number of articles” during the study of the bill, but MP Pascal Bérubé emphasizes that “there is no right to bother shamelessly from elected officials or making comments that are inappropriate.” “It’s a question of balance, but we welcome the initiative from the start,” he said.
PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon believes that there is perhaps reason to clarify certain articles, but “as long as it goes through a court, and therefore there is someone objective who looks into this balance, the court is held by freedom of expression which is fundamental in our society.”
The interim leader of the Liberal Party, Marc Tanguay, believes that the bill, “in principle”, is “in the right place”. “It takes a balance. It is not necessary, at any given moment […] discourage participation and then citizen democracy. Once I said that […] it takes a rebalancing. Our elected officials are under pressure. Our elected officials, we can see, are facing totally unacceptable situations of harassment,” he thundered.
His colleague Virginie Dufour, a former municipal official in Laval, added that she had already been the target of death threats. “At the time, there was no handle, quote, to intervene. So, for there to be reinforcement, I think it is necessary, especially when we see that departures continue to accumulate,” she said.
“I’m making a prediction, on November 4, we risk seeing a lot of departures of municipal elected officials. So something has to be done. It is our democracy that is at stake,” added Mr.me From the oven.