(Quebec) As demonstrators head for Quebec to “ jamming “The capital and oppose sanitary measures, François Legault draws a line not to cross: “We will not tolerate any mayhem”, he warns. All the political parties have moreover confirmed that no deputy will be present this weekend to welcome the convoy.
Posted at 11:23 a.m.
Ian Lafrenière, Minister responsible for Indigenous Affairs and former police officer in Montreal, said Thursday that “taking a population hostage, regardless of the message you want to send, is not tolerable”.
“I’m no longer in the police, however, what I can tell you is when you want to get a message across, there’s a way to do it. […] What I saw last weekend [à Ottawa] hurts my heart. When I saw people desecrate [la] Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, when I’ve seen people go after monuments like the Terry Fox Monument, did they hurt their message? To ask the question is to answer it,” he said.
The leader of the official opposition, Dominique Anglade, for her part affirmed that it is necessary to apply in Quebec a “zero tolerance” if demonstrators “walk around with Nazi flags”, as some have done in Ottawa recently.
“We must not put our heads in the sand, we saw what happened in Ottawa, so we can already assume what will happen in Quebec as well. This is why the government’s message must be extremely clear,” she said.
The PQ accuse QS of being polarizing
The leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, for his part accused Thursday his left-wing independence rival, Québec solidaire, of having a speech “very similar to the radical right” concerning the convoy against health measures which arrives in Quebec.
“You will remember that Éric Duhaime has always ridiculed demonstrations when they come from the left. He mocked the red squares in every way, but also other environmental protests. And there, we have Québec solidaire which tells us this morning: well, there are the good ones and then there are the bad demonstrations. […] The radical left and the radical right have similarities in that they only tolerate protests if they are their protests,” he said.
The PQ leader was reacting to a press conference by the leader of Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, who said Thursday that “it is very important to all tell each other [que] it’s not a movement of truckers, it’s an anti-sanitary measures movement, then that, in the middle of a pandemic, [ça] means that it is an anti-solidarity movement, then that is why we must oppose it”.
“By saying that there are acceptable demonstrations then there are others which are not acceptable, it is a speech as radical as that of Éric Duhaime”, affirmed Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon.
A demonstration “against solidarity”
In his press briefing, during which he affirmed that “the freedom to demonstrate is important, people have the right to express themselves”, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois added that “demonstrating for the lifting of all health measures is to demonstrate against solidarity”.
“The appeal that I am launching today is an appeal, it is an appeal to demonstrate for the right reasons,” said the solidarity leader, citing as an example the struggles “for our children to breathe quality air, so that our elders are well treated, so that people who work in hospitals, in schools, in slaughterhouses, in factories do not catch COVID”.
“Asking for the lifting of health measures, dividing Quebecers on these things, it takes us away from an exit from the pandemic, it does not bring us closer,” he said.
-With the collaboration of Charles Lecavalier, La Presse