QUEBEC CITY -- People must take the demonstrations of the last few days, and some threats of violence made by Quebec City protesters to media on Wednesday, as a "warning" to all politicians, said Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.

The parliamentary leader of Quebec Solidaire (QS) asked "all heads of government, all heads of state, in Quebec, in Canada and around the world" to pay close attention to the situation.

He also asked them to avoid the "trap" of pointing fingers at demonstrators, ridiculing them, looking down on them, or simply wanting to repress their movements without further thought.

"This is a warning for the entire political class," declared Nadeau-Dubois at a press briefing at Quebec's National Assembly on Thursday.

In a video posted on Facebook on Tuesday, Kevin "Big" Grenier, one of three organizers of the "Freedom Convoy" in Quebec City last weekend, said several people had approached him with violent thoughts.

He said that these people even mentioned thoughts of murder and of "taking up arms and going to parliament," by which they appeared to mean Quebec's legislature, not the federal one.

It's a worrying situation, according to the parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ), André Fortin, who said that the Legault government must "take note that there is a certain polarization at the moment."

The government "must be even more transparent, more transparent than it has been, to reduce this skepticism, this cynicism of the population," Fortin said.

The leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ), Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, also condemned the deterioration of the social climate.

On the protesters' comments, he said at a press conference that "we have to take this very seriously" and that "this kind of threat can get out of hand very quickly."

According to St-Pierre Plamondon, governments are partly responsible for the situation, referring specifically to how in Quebec, the Legault government flirted with the idea of ​​taxing the unvaccinated.

"It's been two years now that you've been told, by the Parti Québécois, that the lack of transparency, the 'yo-yo' [opening and closing economic sectors] will have an effect on the social climate, on people's mental health," he said.

"Well... we're seeing a deterioration of the situation."

LEGAULT FURIOUS

These remarks evoked a strong reaction from Premier François Legault. When he arrived for question period on Thursday, he said he expected more support from other party leaders.

"It's totally irresponsible to come and support people who threaten to take up arms against the health instructions by saying 'They are somewhat right; It's the government's fault,'" he fumed.

"I hoped to have the support of the opposition parties. It does not make sense for the Liberal Party and the Parti Québécois to say that it is my fault if these people are threatening to take up arms. There are still limits!"

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 10, 2022