Parti Québécois leader accepts former CF coach apology

The leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ), Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, says he accepts the apology of former CF Montreal coach Sandro Grande.

The two met in the PQ’s Montreal office on Sunday for over an hour, with Grande’s family present.

Grande was fired earlier this month over years-old Twitter comments suggesting former Quebec Premier, Pauline Marois, should be assassinated.

He publicly apologized for those comments last week.

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Grande was named CF Montreal’s reserve squad coach on Jan. 9 but was fired less than a day later after a political backlash over his hiring.

He was under fire over comments he made after the 2012 Quebec election night shooting outside a Parti Québécois’ gathering. He wrote on Twitter that the only mistake the shooter made was missing his target – in reference to then-premier Pauline Marois.

St-Pierre Plamondon was among the politicians who criticized the CF for their decision to hire Grande. But on Facebook Sunday he said he believed the sincerity of his apology and that he and his family had lived through hardship over the last few weeks.

In a news conference on Jan. 9, a tearful Grande said was ashamed of the comments he made, adding he had written to Marois to apologize and received a “touching” response.

In the Facebook post by Plamondon, the PQ leader shared some of Marois’ response, in which she said; “I am convinced you want to pass on good values to your children, but all public figures – yourself included – must participate in respectful debate. I was told you and your family are receiving hateful messages. This goes against my values. If you believe publishing your letter and my response can help the public turn a page, I encourage you to do so.”

St-Pierre Plamondon said “to the extent that Madame Marois does not want to see Mr. Grande cancelled, I feel comfortable accepting his apology on behalf of the Parti Québécois and allowing him to turn the page.”

He said they two men plan to work together towards preventing hate and promoting respectful democratic dialogue.

Adding as a society we must agree on refusing violence no matter our political views.

With files from the Canadian Press