Security of Party Leaders | “The threat is everywhere”

The campaign has just started, but already the security around party leaders is more visible than in previous elections. Bulletproof vests were even distributed. A legitimate and “necessary” situation, say specialists, at a time when threats against Quebec and Canadian elected officials seem more present than ever.

Henri Ouellette-Vezina
The Press

“I was introduced to bulletproof vests. For the Parti Québécois, this is a sensitive issue, we will soon be celebrating the 10^e anniversary of the election of Pauline Marois, our first prime minister,” PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said on Monday, recalling the attack on Ms.^me Marois occurred in Metropolis on election night in 2012, an attack that left one dead and one injured.

Since the start of the campaign, it has not been uncommon to see at least a dozen police officers and plainclothes agents around Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon during the announcements, even if the PQ made no request to the Sûreté du Québec in this regard.

“Today we have to face the facts: the threat is everywhere. In fact, it is against anyone who wants to run in politics or who is in politics at the moment, ”summarizes the ex-agent of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Michel Juneau-Katsuya.

A strict protocol also applies to the Liberal Party. Chef Dominique Anglade is accompanied by security guards at all times.

On the caquiste caravan, the security device accompanying François Legault is also imposing. Sunday, in Jonquière, the police asked five women from the collective Mothers at the front to leave the parking lot where activists were gathering. The representatives of the group had small signs inviting the candidates to a debate on the environment. They were escorted across the street.

Wherever he goes, the CAQ chief is preceded by a delegation of police officers who patrol the place where he goes before his arrival.

“Mr. Legault absolutely wants to meet Quebecers. This is the very purpose of an election campaign. That said, each electoral campaign brings its share of unforeseen events,” explained its press officer, Ewan Sauves, thanking the authorities for their security support.

All elected officials targeted

For Michel Juneau-Katsuya, this new reality is largely attributable to what he calls the “degradation of democratic decorum”, in other words the gradual disappearance of the “respect that once existed between elected officials and the population”. “For me, it’s really been the last twenty years that we see that. But today, and we saw it with truckers in Ottawa, all elected officials are targeted. They are all seen as collaborators,” he continues.

The increase in security around parties is therefore not “surprising”, but it also has drawbacks.

At the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), spokesperson Catherine Bernard simply confirms that security is provided to the chiefs. “It is our duty to be present on the scene, in case there is a criminal offence. In an electoral context, we know that there are internal gatherings, and the presence of party leaders, “limited himself to saying Monday M^me Bernard, without going any further for “operational strategy” reasons.

Police sources reveal, however, that the police force has been “reinforced”, or at least that it is “much more visible”, this year. Last year, the same phenomenon was also observed on the federal scene. “Before, there was a concern that it would not appear, our presence. Today, it is no longer that. We want to be visible, ”says a source on condition of anonymity.

At Québec solidaire as well, security is omnipresent, unheard of for an opposition party. Monday, in Outremont, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois was surrounded by a dozen SPVM patrol cars. “As an elected official, I have noticed a significant increase in threats of all types in the last two, three years. When I talk to my fellow MPs, in solidarity or not, everyone has seen the same thing, ”he said on Monday, declining however to comment in detail on his security measures.

However, the story is different in the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ), where no police officer is visible during the events. “I’ve already been to Iraq during the war, so it’s not something that worries me,” admits Éric Duhaime, who had worked in this country in 2009 and 2010 for a non-profit organization. “We have not made an official request,” he added about the protection of the Sûreté du Québec. “I don’t know what the risk is compared to the other chefs,” he says. I don’t know if I’m less at risk or more at risk. Maybe we are less at risk than others? he wondered.

Mr. Duhaime nevertheless invites the artisans of his campaign to be careful. In two separate incidents, volunteers were allegedly threatened with a knife. The last would have occurred Sunday in the village of Port-Cartier, on the North Shore. The Sûreté du Québec says it is aware, but was still waiting for a complaint to investigate. “We invite everyone to calm down. We can hate our adversaries, but violence is in no way justified,” said the curator.

A thin line

A former national security expert who also worked at the Department of National Defense as a policy officer, University of Ottawa professor Thomas Juneau also believes that it is “necessary” to make more to protect elected officials.

So far, no one knows when this climate will fade, advance Thomas Juneau. But it already issues a recommendation. “When things stabilize, we have to make sure we have mechanisms in place to gradually withdraw all that security and re-establish bridges with the population. It is essential,” he says.

“Not all politicians are aware of it, but no one is immune to unpleasant surprises. The reality is that to have a better political system that works, elected officials and candidates must be able to do their job, ”says Claude Sarrazin, president of the Sirco group, which specializes in private protection.

Targeted elected officials

Chrystia Freeland

Two days before the start of the Quebec campaign on Friday, the federal Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland, was the victim of a verbal attack in Alberta. In a video posted online, the minister was seen entering an elevator when a burly man approached her to shout swear words and insult her. In the aftermath, Justin Trudeau had asked politicians to unite and come out publicly against harassment and intimidation. Last year, the Liberal leader was hit by small stones during an announcement in London, Ontario.

Francois Legault

Quebec Premier François Legault has often been the subject of threats during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, in June, Pierre Dion, a conspirator and admirer of the Quebec mosque killer, was sentenced to 30 days in prison for threatening to “hang” Prime Minister François Legault in a video on social networks. The judge then strongly denounced the impact of the “scourge” of online threats since COVID-19.

Jagmeet Singh

In May, while he was in Peterborough, New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh was chased and heavily insulted by some individuals. “It was the most tense moment of my political life,” he admitted to The Press a few days later. Protesters opposing the health rules then arrested Mr. Singh, who was leaving an electoral office, following him to his car while insulting him and giving him the middle finger.

Pascal Berube

While he was still interim leader of the Parti Québécois, Pascal Bérubé filed a complaint twice in 2020 with the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) against an individual who had written on Facebook that he deserved the “death penalty” for his critical positions towards the conspiracy protesters. “Pascal Bérubé, you are worse than worse, you will deserve the same sentence as your mentor François Legault, crime against humanity, you are war criminals, it is indisputable = death penalty. I hope justice will be done, “said the individual, identifying himself as Billy Gagné.

Catherine McKenna

Former federal environment minister Catherine McKenna was also the target of torrents of online insults, which eventually spilled over into the virtual sphere. As early as 2017, she had come to the attention of the international community when she denounced former Conservative MP Gerry Ritz, who had called her on Twitter “Climate Barbie”, a sexist insult born first on the site of extreme right The Rebel. On the eve of the 2019 elections, she said she needed close security because of the growing threats that now targeted her person. It was not uncommon, she said, for men to shout insults at her when she went out with her children in Ottawa.

With the collaboration of Fanny Lévesque, Charles Lecavalier, Hugo Pilon-Larose and Mylène Crête, The Press, and The Canadian Press