Fatal 1984 Quebec National Assembly shooting: 40 years later

Forty years ago to the day, Cpl. Denis Lortie burst into Quebec’s National Assembly with the goal of killing then Premier René Lévesque and MNAs from the Parti Québécois.

Heavily armed with a submachine gun, Lortie killed three people and injured 13 others.

The 25-year-old surrendered and was arrested five hours after the attack after negotiating with René Jalbert, the legislature’s sergeant-at-arms.

Lortie was found guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of the three government workers. After that conviction was overturned by the Quebec Court of Appeal, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 1987, and was sentenced to life in prison.

He was granted day parole in January 1995, then full parole in 1996 — the same year Jalbert passed away.

A ceremony was held Wednesday morning in Quebec City. National Assembly Speaker Nathalie Roy paid tribute to the victims and those who intervened.

“In honour of the injured and those we lost, it’s important to protect our democracy and the people who work to uphold it,” Roy said. “Ever since that sad event, our institution takes threats very seriously, and has put into place measures to ensure the safety of the building and its staff.”

Québec solidaire MNA Étienne Grandmont commemorated the victims.

“We would like to remember Camille Lepage, Georges Boyer and Roger Lefrançois who died during the events,” he said.

“It was an attack on our democracy,” added Liberal MNA Frédéric Beauchemin. “We wanted to highlight the work of the constables who are here to ensure the proper functioning of the National Assembly.”

PQ MNA Pascal Bérubé also reflected on the tragedy on the 40th anniversary.

“Twice in our history, our political party was targeted by killers who wanted to cause enormous damage with a weapon,” he said, referencing the election-night attack against Premier Pauline Marois in 2012.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews