Posted at 7:42 p.m.
(Quebec) The number of reports to the police for threats against elected members of the National Assembly has exploded since the start of the pandemic, indicate figures obtained from the Sûreté du Québec (SQ). The police force also wishes to remind the population that “the keyboard is not a sign of immunity”.
The SQ had listed only 16 reports of threatening remarks or threats towards Quebec provincial elected officials in 2019.
The following year, Quebec was hit by the arrival of COVID-19 and health measures. Reports for threats to provincial elected officials then exploded. The SQ noted 286 in 2020, then 396 in 2021.
“We always take these actions seriously. An attempt at intimidation or an act of violence is always one act too many,” warns SQ spokesperson Ann Mathieu.
People have found themselves in difficult situations with the confinements. There are people who have found themselves perhaps more behind a keyboard. And often people feel a certain immunity behind a keyboard.
Ann Mathieu, spokesperson for the SQ
Reports can be made by the person targeted by the comments or by people who witness them. Threats to elected officials do not all lead to criminal charges, says the SQ. But the media have recently reported on several cases where the perpetrators of the threats have been brought to justice.
We tend to believe that these threats come from thoughtless messages on social networks, but several threats have been made over the phone.
One thing is certain: reports have increased markedly at the same time as the pandemic.
“I’ve been on Twitter since 2013 and I’ve never experienced this. It’s really since 2020 “that the aggressive remarks have exploded, notes in an interview the Minister of Tourism, Caroline Proulx.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE
Caroline Proulx, Minister of Tourism
This member of the government has not been the most visible since the start of the pandemic. However, she received her share of threats. She filed a complaint twice with the police. In a message, she says, a surfer wrote to her: “we’re going to shoot you big bitch”.
A few weeks ago, she participated in a TVA report on the convoy against sanitary measures which was preparing for Quebec. “I invited people to come and enjoy the Carnival despite the demonstration,” she said. She says she was inundated with angry messages on Twitter.
Exacerbated by the pandemic
Sherbrooke MNA Christine Labrie is well aware of these threats. She herself filed a complaint with the police before the pandemic, complaints that led to two convictions.
In a speech to the National Assembly in November 2019, she denounced the abusive remarks received by her and other women deputies (“Heille la nunuche, go get dressed or kill yourself” or “you are a chalice of a prostitute “).
She is not surprised by the increase in reports to the police.
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Christine Labrie, MNA for Sherbrooke
I have noticed an increase in threats related to the pandemic. I have also noticed that elected officials are quicker to denounce such remarks publicly or to the police than before. I find it very positive that we have lifted the taboo on this issue.
Christine Labrie, MNA for Sherbrooke
According to her, the pandemic and health measures have led to “a significant social divide” which may have fueled the resentment of certain individuals.
She says she is delighted to see the government adopt “a change of approach which should quietly repair this social divide”.
“We lacked an approach that promoted dialogue for several months. We came back to it. I’m very happy with that, I hope it will help reduce tensions,” she said, adding that “no matter what decisions have been made by this government, no one deserves threats or abusive language.”
Sometimes a criminal record
The entourage of the prime minister himself made reports to the police for threatening messages received at the constituency office of François Legault.
On the night of March 3, 2021, Philippe Charbonneau notably said to the Prime Minister, on his voicemail: “it would be fun to line up the whole gang and hang you”, according to the evidence filed in court.
The man pleaded guilty, consulted a psychologist and said he regretted his words. In his decision on February 3, a judge of the Court of Quebec granted him a conditional discharge, which allows this young professional to avoid a criminal record.
In another episode, Philippe Côté also left threatening messages in the office of François Legault, in May 2020, at the start of the pandemic. The trucker attacks Mr. Legault and Horacio Arruda. He then claims that he is thinking of getting a gun and shooting them “a bullet between the two ears”.
Mr. Côté received two years probation with a suspended sentence and inherited a criminal record.
The court finds that making death threats in writing or leaving threats in a telephone box is as serious as if it had been made directly to the person.
Excerpt from the judge’s decision
The Sûreté du Québec wants to remind you that online threats have serious consequences. “The keyboard is not a sign of immunity. As long as we intimidate, that we threaten, people can face criminal charges that can have impacts on the rest of life, ”warns spokesperson Ann Mathieu.
The Liberal MP for Vimont, himself a former police officer, is not surprised by the increase in reports of threats to elected officials.
“Unfortunately people who make threats behind their screens often think there are no consequences. They give themselves a platform, they feel boosted. There, it is the COVID-19 which disturbs, ”notes Jean Rousselle.
The leader of the Parti Québécois said he found these figures “extremely worrying”. “As a society, we must ask ourselves the question of what we are ready to tolerate,” believes Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. As a politician, we know that we expose ourselves to criticism, but when it falls into hatred, we must not tolerate it. »