Premier François Legault insulted Liberal MP Pierre Arcand on Wednesday at the National Assembly -- by expressing surprise that he is still alive.
"Is he not dead?" wondered the premier aloud as the MNA, known to be a gentleman who never attacks anyone, rose to ask a question.
Shortly after the incident, Arcand appeared before the media, visibly shaken. He said that in his judgment, by behaving in this way Legault was not worthy of being premier of Quebec.
A few hours later, far from retracting, Legault told press that his comment about Arcand had been "positive."
Arcand didn't see it that way, however.
"I am very shaken by these comments," he said, adding that there was "a limit to the arrogance" of the premier.
"Really a 'cheap shot,'" said the 70-year-old, who represents the riding of Mont-Royal--Outremont.
He also called the comment a "blow below the belt" and a blatant disrespect towards him.
"What's the point of everything we've done, if we're treated like that?" he wondered, seemingly still in shock.
A calm and thoughtful man, an experienced parliamentarian since 2007, a former minister and former interim leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, Arcand has a reputation for never raising his voice and keeping a safe distance from personal attacks.
Legault apologized in the House and later on social media as well, where he tried to cast the remarks in a different light.
As soon as he heard the premier's question, the House Leader of the Official Opposition, André Fortin, jumped up from his seat to demand that Legault withdraw his remarks, which he did. Arcand accepted his apology.
On Twitter, Legault later defended himself, saying it was joking between friends -- despite the fact that Arcand had obviously taken offence.
"Pierre Arcand is a friend. It was a bad joke. I apologized," he wrote, responding to a journalist's tweet describing the exchange.
Arcand denied the two were friends.
The leader of the official opposition, Dominique Anglade, went further, asserting that Legault's arrogance no longer had "limits."
She said it's when the microphones are off, the cameras gone, that Legault allows himself to make this kind of inappropriate remark.
Later, in a brief press scrum, the premier tried again to put a good face on the episode, saying his intentions were positive and that he actually wanted to blame Anglade, who he said "doesn't use [Arcand] enough" during question period in the House.
"When I saw that he finally got up [to ask a question], I said to myself: finally, he is not dead, there! It was positive with regard to Pierre," argued Legault.
He also defended himself against the accusation of arrogance, insisting he had allowed himself a joke in poor taste, nothing more.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 27, 2022, with files from CTV News.
