The murder of Lola in France, of a rare atrocity, caused the appearance of opportunities for all the specters of the political sphere. The echo of this affair in Quebec, between its treatment as international news and the comments of Quebecers settled there, brings to light the phenomenon of political recovery of news items.
• Read also: In France, a moved crowd says goodbye to Lola, a teenager brutally killed
• Read also: Young girl killed in Paris: a suspect with a chaotic life course
• Read also: The body of a 12-year-old girl discovered in a trunk in Paris
Lola, assaulted and asphyxiated, was found inside a trunk in the courtyard of her building in Paris on October 14. The main suspect in the crime is a 24-year-old Algerian, Dahbia B., who was arrested, charged with rape and placed in pre-trial detention, in solitary confinement, in Fresnes prison, located in the southern suburbs of Paris.
Despite this, the emotion does not go down. Neither does the controversy.
The right and the extreme right use the nationality of the murderer, as well as the non-implementation of an order to leave the territory which was addressed to her, to make political gains.
At the same time, they make the government partly responsible for the fact of “the laxity of its migration policy”, “a lack of execution of justice”, because the alleged murderer of Lola “had nothing to do here”.
The left, meanwhile, has instead sided with Emmanuel Macron’s government, denouncing a “filthy political recovery” on the part of the right and the far right.
The government spokesman, Olivier Véran, even went to treat the rightist camp as “scavengers”, while child protection associations denounce remarks unacceptable by the entire political class of the country.
As for many extreme groups, even neo-Nazis, for some having links with the party of Éric Zemmour, Reconquête!, the latter have multiplied the demonstrations associating immigrants and foreigners with assassins.
They are also not shy about insulting the victim’s family when the latter pleaded for their period of mourning to be respected.
This kind of event and the force of the controversy it provokes, certainly in a society that is politically more tribal than ours, raise the question: are we immune to these opportunity effects?
For Catherine Côté, associate professor at the School of Applied Politics of the University of Sherbrooke, “reuse this kind of events for constructive purposes is still useful”.
Screenshot University of Sherbrooke School of Applied Politics
Associate Professor Catherine Côté.
“It’s good that we go back to this kind of event if it’s to allow ourselves to learn from mistakes so as not to repeat them. Individuals will always be more receptive to criticism after the fact when it improves the system,” she explains.
She adds that “however, when recovery can be done by certain oppositions to advance his platform and hurt opponents, that is where the problem lies”.
Because it is true that Quebec is not immune to this kind of phenomenon either. Commentator Steve E. Fortin had put forward a “disappointing political recovery” in speaking of the comments following the attack on the Quebec mosque.
Indeed, following this act of terror, Québec solidaire and the Liberal Party of Québec supported the proposal of the National Council of Muslims of Canada (CNMC), controversial advice for many commentators such as Frédéric Bastien, to establish a day nation against Islamophobia.
The professor adds that “taking advantage of a major stake to sneak in and advance your pawns, that’s where the problem lies”.
“It diminishes the quality of the debate and the answers that it could bring,” she explains.
Closer to home, the numerous shootings that rock the greater Montreal area constitute a new reservoir of events that politicians can use.
Dominique Anglade could have been accused this summer of seeking excessive politicization. Commentator Luc Lavoie argued that it was rather a matter that should not be politicized.
“It’s a file where you have to put the competent people in charge, and a file where things have to be settled, not by outbidding,” he believes.
Catherine Côté concludes that due consideration must be given at all times to help the viewer, like the commentator, understand these current events.
Most important is always the use of words and labels. Above all, you have to know how to choose them well when dealing with these events.
Meanwhile in France, the “Lola” controversy continues to swell as even now entertainment hosts are offering solutions that some say violate the rule of law.