Former MP Catherine Fournier deplores having felt very alone in the corridors of parliament after the arrest of her attacker, the former elected Harold LeBel. “Of the 125 deputies, there are two people who wrote to me”, she noted in an interview with The dutyWednesday.
“There was no public speaking, if only to question or open the discussion on the place of this person. [M. LeBel] to the National Assembly given the criminal charges, ”she said sorry at the microphone of the podcast Get the One. “It’s an observation that I make… Then, everyone knew it was me. »
Some 24 hours after having obtained, at her request, the lifting of the publication ban which protected her identity as a victim of Harold LeBel, the current mayor of Longueuil denounced the silence of her parliamentary colleagues and the lack of proactivity of the National Assembly in the hours and days following the arrest of his assailant, December 15, 2020. “The National Assembly may have missed the opportunity at that time to question itself,” he said. she pointed out.
Arrested in the morning in the corridors of parliament, the Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette, agreed that it was “important to have clear rules in the National Assembly” in cases of sexual assault. “There could be a reflection in collaboration with the national president. I think it’s important,” he said.
On Tuesday, Ms. Fournier had proposed to parliamentarians to create a position of “independent respondent” in matters of sexual violence.
“At the time, I suggested in the context of a bill tabled in the National Assembly, that it could be the responsibility of the DGEQ [Directeur général des élections du Québec] “, she explained in an interview. “I don’t think it’s realistic for a victim — whether it’s an elected official, whether it’s an activist — to confide in a whip or a party leader. »
“I think we can fear […] the consequences on our journey, ”she continued.
Asked about the protections granted to elected officials, the President of the National Assembly, Nathalie Roy, assured that the institution had already looked into the matter. “The National Assembly did not wait to modify and improve its regulations to help, among other things, people who are victims of psychological harassment and sexual harassment,” she said. A “respect commissioner” will be appointed by the fall, she added.
Catherine Fournier was sexually assaulted by her Parti Québécois colleague in October 2017, while participating in a political activity in Rimouski. She reported him to the police in July 2020, after a long reflection. In November, the former MP for Rimouski was found guilty and sentenced to eight months in prison. He has since been released on conditions.
With Marie-Michèle Sioui and Félix Deschênes