Labour Minister Jean Boulet will file a police complaint regarding the use of a guillotine against a puppet representing him during a demonstration last Saturday.
In a video that has circulated widely in recent days, protesters use a guillotine to cut off the head of a puppet bearing the physical features of Minister Boulet.
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In a press scrum on Tuesday, during the parliamentary session, Boulet confirmed that he would be filing a complaint with the Montreal police (SPVM) for actions he described as unacceptable.
“It certainly made me extremely sensitive,” he told the parliamentary press. “I felt threatened in my integrity, my family, and the people around me.”
SPVM announced Monday that it had opened an investigation into the events. The SPVM did not provide further details, but Minister Boulet stated that he was in contact with the authorities.
“It is certain that in our society, we cannot accept events of this nature,” he argued.
“When you’re the person being depicted, the one being beheaded, it hurts.”
When questioned by The Canadian Press, the Workers’ Alliance denied having intended to personify Minister Jean Boulet.
“We never said ourselves that the effigy represented Minister Boulet. It was the media who said that. It represented a member of the generic elite (…) and it seems that politicians felt targeted,” the organization replied on Monday.
The four major unions issued a joint statement following the uproar caused by the use of the guillotine. “The CSD, CSN, CSQ, and FTQ completely disassociate themselves from this isolated action.”
According to Minister Boulet, however, this does not amount to a true conviction.
“My understanding of things is this: dissociating oneself is not denouncing,” he argued. “Dissociating oneself means: ‘It wasn’t me’.”
– With information from Lia Lévesque
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
