The lawsuit brought by victims of the shooting at the Métropolis, during Pauline Marois’ election victory party in 2012, is suspended again until the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) can provide information on the threats that had made against the leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ).
Four survivors of the Metropolis attack are suing the SQ and the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) for injuries suffered due to poor security, in particular because the back of this Montreal performance hall was not not secured on September 4, 2012. These four stage technicians are claiming more than $600,000.
That evening, Richard Henry Bain opened fire, killing stage technician Denis Blanchette and wounding Dave Courage, in addition to attempting to burn down the building. He has since been sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of parole for 20 years.
As part of the civil lawsuit brought against the police, it emerged that six threats had been made against Pauline Marois on the day of election night, and brought to the attention of the SQ.
What are these threats? Was there an investigation and by whom? To whom were they communicated?
We do not know yet, since the various witnesses of the SQ who testified at the trial were not able to say: they testified not to remember.
Last week, considering this information necessary, Judge Philippe Bélanger of the Superior Court sent the SQ and its lawyers to do their research. However, they returned to the magistrate on Monday empty-handed.
We cannot find a document that answers all these questions, one of the lawyers for the Attorney General of Quebec, Me Julien Bernard, told the judge on behalf of the SQ. We must speak to many people, including former SQ who are now retired: they must be traced. However, he says he hopes to be able to answer these questions within 10 days.
It will also be necessary to “refresh the memory” of several witnesses, even those who have already testified, he added, since this attack dates back almost 10 years.
The lawyers will have to return to court on May 9 with the fruit of their efforts.
It will then be decided on the time scheduled to present this evidence and also the dates for the arguments of the lawyers.
The judge will then have to decide whether the police forces committed one or more faults in the creation and implementation of their site security plan.