Two people arrested for alleged death threats against Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois

Quebec Solidaire Leader Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois speaks during a ceremony, Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at the legislature in Quebec City. Nadeau-Dubois commented on the controversy around comments made by radio host Gilles Proulx. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

Two people have been arrested for death threats against Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois since the last election campaign.

The co-spokesman of Québec solidaire (QS) revealed news of the arrests Thursday morning in the wake of the controversy involving columnist Gilles Proulx.

He believes that the statements made by the commentator on QUB radio endanger his family's safety.

"I'm convinced that this is not the right thing to do," he said in a press scrum in Quebec City.

"I'm sure that wasn't Mr. Proulx's intention, right? But hateful, violent words, it feeds a climate that is already poisonous, that is already filled with violence and hatred towards politicians."

According to the details obtained from the office of the parliamentary leader of the second opposition, the death threats were made on social media during the election campaign.

It is the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) who confirmed to QS that two charges against two people had been filed, it was added.

One of the two cases has been reported in the media. Benoit Kierans, from Franklin, in Montérégie, pleaded not guilty to two counts of uttering threats last fall. But in this case involved threats — not death threats — whereas Nadeau-Dubois mentioned death threats.

The Canadian Press is unable to confirm whether charges were laid against the second person who was arrested.

The DPCP did not respond to a request for more information.

All threats QS says it has received have been reported to the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), the party said.

Nadeau-Dubois blames Gilles Proulx for inciting hatred of the QS by saying during a broadcast on QUB radio in early March: "We will believe these bastards there. They are bastards, that's all they are! They're a bunch of liars."

He also criticized him for having gone on to say in another program: "Hypocrite that he is, he shows up on a popular Sunday night television show with a Quebec flag pin in his lapel. So the British are right to say we should finish them off once and for all, those thickos."

In a column Thursday, Proulx said he was attacked "on false premises."

"Everyone has understood something or the same thing, Mr. Proulx, him, maintains that this is not what he meant," retorted the co-spokesman of QS.

Beyond the intention, there are the effects of the words, and then, on the other hand, what about the rest of the words? They are not more acceptable."

Nadeau-Dubois assured that he is not at war with the columnist and the media, but he reiterated his demands for an apology.

"We are still waiting for an apology from Mr. Proulx, from Mr. (Richard) Martineau, who allowed these remarks to be expressed on his microphone without correcting his columnist, and from QUB radio," he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 30, 2023