QUB radio columnist Gilles Proulx went too far by calling the deputies of Québec solidaire (QS) “bastards” and “gangrene”, then asking to “finish them off once and for all”, protests Gabriel Nadeau- Dubois. The supportive co-spokesperson demands a public apology.
In statement released Thursday on his social media, Mr. Nadeau-Dubois strongly denounced the “hateful, violent and degrading” remarks made in two separate columns by the contributor to Quebecor’s Web radio. “As long as these apologies have not been made, no member of Québec solidaire will participate in QUB radio broadcasts. We are also examining the legal remedies available to us, ”wrote the elected representative.
QS’s criticisms relate to the content of two columns on Richard Martineau’s show, on March 10 and 21. In the first, Mr. Proulx affirms that the elected officials in solidarity engaged in “putassery” by distributing unilingual Anglophone leaflets during the partial election campaign in Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne.
“This gangrene is gaining ground,” he says.
In a second sequence, which has been erased from the QUB radio website, Mr. Proulx goes further: Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois is, in his view, “hypocritical” because he wears a fleur-de-lis pin on his jacket, while this “sovereignist, he said, […] removed the word “Quebec” from its posters during the campaign”. “The English are really right to say that we should finish them off once and for all,” he says.
“Incitement to Violence”
Liberal MP Marwah Rizqy, who faced threats during the general election campaign last year, denounced on Thursday an “incitement to violence […] totally unacceptable”. “An attack on elected officials is an attack on all elected officials,” she said from the Blue Room, her voice choking with emotion. ” This is unacceptable. […] We are not disembodied from life, we have families. »
In a tweet published Thursday, Prime Minister François Legault also “strongly” condemned the language used by Gilles Proulx. “This hatred has no place. Everyone deserves respect,” he tweeted.
Mr. Nadeau-Dubois urges Mr. Proulx to demonstrate a sense of “responsibility”. “During the last election campaign, threats against elected officials or candidates exploded. A record number of arrests have been made by police forces. […] Gilles Proulx’s remarks are not only dangerous for the social climate, they also endanger the safety of the elected representatives of Québec solidaire, ”he declared.
Following a series of threats that marked the first week of the campaign last year, François Legault asked the Sûreté du Québec to be present “for all candidates who feel threatened”. “We cannot accept that in our society, this kind of threat,” he argued.