The leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, believes that the media did not respect his privacy by publishing images showing him emotional in the middle of a press briefing, while he was broaching the subject of death threats made towards him and his family.
These comments come the day after a press briefing during which journalists asked the PQ leader to comment on the arrest of a man who allegedly made threats to him and his family. At first, PSPP tried to respond, but he was overcome by emotions and had to withdraw to calm down. He then returned to make his statement.
“We explicitly agreed with the journalists that only my second response where I managed to finish my sentences would be retained, so […] so that I do not have to expose to 9 million Quebecers the distress that these threats may have caused to my family and me,” he wrote in Facebook and in X.
Thus, the politician stressed that the events were difficult for him and his family and that he would have preferred that this moment of weakness not be made public.
“I therefore do not believe that anyone at this press point had the obligation to expose to 9 million Quebecers the anguish that these threats may have caused us. It is a lack of sensitivity, of respect for my private life, a lack of ethics, but above all a great lack of humanity, which I did not believe was possible in politics, in Quebec,” he mentioned in adding that only his second statement could have been relayed.
“I am deeply disappointed and I hope that in Quebec, we will succeed in taking an avenue that is more respectful of the private sphere,” concluded PSPP.
Note that, Saturday morning, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon canceled his presence at the general council of the Bloc Québécois for personal reasons.