New Longueuil mayor sent 'serious threat' over deer cull; police investigating
It would be déjà-vu, except for the new face at the centre of it. After the City of Longueuil announced it would cull deer in a park, the city's mayor -- 29-year-old Catherine Fournier -- has been sent a threat serious enough to involve police.
The last time this happened, it was former Longueuil mayor Sylvie Parent who was the subject of the threats. At least three threats were made against Parent last fall, with police even saying protection would be provided to her if necessary.
Other threats, to disrupt the cull operation itself, ultimately forced Longueuil to call it off.
Almost exactly a year later, the city announced Tuesday that it's launching a new plan to cull deer in Michel-Chartrand Park.
Within 12 hours, police were looking into a threat against Fournier.
"It was a serious threat received on social media," Fournier's spokesperson, Camille Desrosiers-Laferrière, told CTV.
Despite the high-profile and often heated issue, the rest of the comments were "all cordial," she added.
The mayor's office is in contact with Longueuil Police, she said.
François Boucher of Longueuil Police said that the force has been informed of "a situation" and that it's under investigation, and that he couldn't provide more details.
Last year, three people were arrested over threats made to Parent, the former mayor. The outcome of those cases is unclear. At least one of those threats was described at the time as a death threat.
All of those arrested were in their 20s and 30s and didn't live in Longueuil, police said at the time.
Last year, the culling plan would have involved about 15 deer. This year, the city says there are 70 deer it must deal with after the population exploded over the last year.
It has maintained that the natural environment of the park is becoming degraded, that the deer can carry Lyme disease and are a traffic hazard, and that the deer themselves are malnourished, with the park not big enough to feed the size of the deer population.
While many have suggested relocating the deer to nature parks, wildlife experts said that doing so would not be kind to the deer and that the process of relocation could kill them.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.