The leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ), Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, has accepted an apology from Sandro Grande, who was very briefly hired by CF Montreal before being fired because of his controversial remarks on the sovereignty movement.
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“Insofar as [l’ancienne première ministre Pauline] Marois does not want to see Mr. Grande be ostracized or “cancelled”, I feel comfortable, as leader of our political formation and our movement, to accept his apologies and thus allow Mr. Grande to turn the page “Explained the PQ leader on his Facebook page, Sunday, following an hour-long one-on-one with Mr. Grande at the PQ offices in Montreal.
“I found in Sandro Grande a sincere man in his apologies and I was able to discuss the situation with his family, who have obviously been through a very difficult situation over the past few weeks,” he added.
CF Montreal announced on January 9 the hiring of Sandro Grande as head coach of its reserve team, a decision that quickly sparked an outcry because of his past remarks. Mr. Grande had notably written on social networks that he regretted that the author of the Metropolis attack in 2012 did not kill Mrs. Marois during her election as Prime Minister.
“The only mistake the shooter made last night was missing his target!!! Marois!!! Next time dude! I hope!”, he had then published.
The Montreal team had backtracked on its hiring the next day. The main interested party, he apologized at a press conference on Thursday, admitting in passing for the first time to have indeed written the tweet.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, who had launched the ball of criticism following the hiring of Sandre Grande, indicated that he expressed his concerns about the safety of politicians, who are increasingly victims of threats in line.
“We have also agreed that, once the dust has settled, we will do joint activities on the themes of preventing hatred and promoting respectful and human democratic dialogue,” assured the PQ leader, assuring that he hopes that the coach that he “reenters society in a role in which he apparently excels, that of teaching soccer to young people”.
In an interview with LCN on Sunday afternoon, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon added that there was “a general desire to turn the page”. “We agreed as a society that the separatists, like any other political movement, had the right to security. I won’t hide from you that I want Mr. Grande to be reinstated in our society. The whole story of banishing people, preventing them from earning a living, what does it really lead us to? If the apologies are sincere, there is forgiveness,” he said.
“Ms. Marois has faced so many adversities. Yes, we can talk about preventing online hatred, but also talking about democracy, with all Quebecers,” said the leader of the Parti Québécois.
“We always choose as a society where we do not want to go. We don’t want (killings) in Quebec like we see in the United States. If we don’t want that in Quebec, we have to make choices accordingly.”