It’s an open secret: François Legault has mastered the art of the embarrassing phrase like no one else. On August 5, he surpassed already astonishing performances by saying, about the tragic murders in Montreal, then in Laval: “I’m glad we got rid of this individual. And there, we also have to see what happened, because given that it was someone who was already targeted, why was he released? »
True to his style, our Prime Minister evacuates any possible reflexive rigor by renewing despicable stereotypes about people in the criminal justice system. In addition, those who are due to a mental health problem.
How can we rejoice over the death of a man? This statement, unworthy of a head of state, ignores any compassion for the other collateral victims who are the relatives of the suspect killed. Abdulla Shaikh, before being a criminal, was a son, a brother. What will our Prime Minister offer to the incomprehension in which his relatives must be plunged? A misunderstanding that must have started long before the criminal trajectory of their Shaikh.
Similarly, when the Prime Minister says he is “all the same satisfied” with the work of the police, does he imagine for a moment that a person had to pull the trigger to bring down an individual in crisis and that this person becomes a possible other collateral victim? Moreover, what does he think of the work of the interveners and caregivers who work with threatening users? A vain effort to solve problems to which only death would be the valid answer?
As a good populist, the Prime Minister gives us another tough stereotype: in order for a citizen to feel safe, a person who has gone to court and who is living with a mental health problem should be imprisoned for an indefinite period, or even life.
These sweeping declarations, banal in appearance, reveal a political and social vision where authority, punishment, emotion and common sense are the solutions to the questions our Prime Minister is asking. The reflection that must be carried out following this chain of tragic events would benefit from removing the populist ruts and embracing a broader horizon.