Two people reportedly arrested for death threats against Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois
Posted March 30, 2023 11:41 am.
Last Updated March 30, 2023 1:05 pm.
QUEBEC CITY – Two people have been arrested for death threats against Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois since the last election campaign, according to the co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire (QS).
Nadeau-Dubois made the revelation Thursday morning in a press scrum in the wake of the controversy that pits him against columnist Gilles Proulx.
He believes that the statements made by the commentator on a Qub radio show endanger the safety of his family.
He then illustrated his argument by revealing that he had been the victim of death threats and that two people had been arrested.
“We have families, and then to say stuff like that, it puts our safety at risk. There are two people who have been arrested since the last election for death threats against me, two. There are many people who are not doing well in Quebec. Comments like that in the public space, it can have an effect, it can give bad ideas.”
The parliamentary leader of QS did not give details on what happened specifically and The Canadian Press did not confirm the arrests.
Nadeau-Dubois had recently announced that no QS MNA will participate in Qub radio’s programs until an apology has been heard, adding that the party is evaluating possible legal remedies.
“We are dealing with violent, hateful and degrading comments towards elected officials of the Quebec National Assembly, on the airwaves of a major media. The host never intervened to correct them. We can’t tolerate that and Qub radio should not have tolerated that,” he said.
“We are human beings, we have families. There are limits”, he concluded, also mentioning that the comments of the columnist “are not only dangerous for the social climate, they also endanger the safety of elected officials” of his party.
The Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) confirmed that two charges against two individuals have been laid
One of the two cases has been publicized. It involves Benoit Kierans from Montérégie, who pleaded not guilty to two counts of uttering threats last fall.
The Canadian Press is unable to confirm whether charges were laid against the second person who was arrested.
All of the threats QS says it received were reported to the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), the party said.
The Qub radio contributor defended himself from having made violent or hateful comments. In a statement shared on Twitter last Thursday, Proulx claims to have been quoted out of context by Nadeau-Dubois.
“I was not talking about him or his party when I said that, ‘the English are right, we should finish them off once and for all, those thick people.’ I was being ironic about us, the Quebecers, who despite all the hypocrisies of some politicians, continue to elect them,” he said.
Several elected officials in Quebec City defended the QS parliamentary leader, including Premier François Legault.
“I strongly condemn the comments of Gilles Proulx on the members of Québec solidaire. This hatred has no place. Everyone deserves respect,” the CAQ leader said in a tweet last week.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 30, 2023
