Newly-elected Québec Premier Pauline Marois shot at, one dead

Today was the provincial elections of the province of Québec in Canada. Pauline Marois, chief of the Parti Québecois, was elected in a minority government. As she was giving her speech about Québec independance, she was shot at by a man with what seemed like an AK-47. She was not hit, but two other men were. One is confirmed dead, while the other is in critical condition at the hospital. The criminal is a 50-year old man, an anglophone. As he was being taken away by the police, he said something to the effect of "The English are rising".

I am saddened by this. My heart goes to the victims and their families.

Source (french only)

Damn it, I swear, I can't wait to get out of this province some days. And in this case, I have twelve more days till I leave. Not terribly happy about how deep the division is between the English and the French, and unfortunately I'm not so surprised someone would do something like this at some point.

Pardon my American ignorance, because I didn't realize that the situation in Quebec was that fucked up.

My condolences to the people that were shot, shot at, and their families.

O_O

I'm not for the separation of Quebec, but that's pretty fucked up...

That's pretty terrible, I had no idea the situation up north was so dire.

That's pretty bad, and it makes this video make a bit more sense.

I wouldn't say that the situation is nearly as fucked up as this event makes it seems,

Not trying to get into any politics here though, regardless of your stance on independence and whatnot (if you're from Quebec) this is a terrible event.

And also from following my facebook feed all night long, something really needs to change in regards to the constant xenophobia, or perceived xenophobia here.

@Hailinel said:

Pardon my American ignorance, because I didn't realize that the situation in Quebec was that fucked up.

My condolences to the people that were shot, shot at, and their families.

It's not that fucked up, the separatist movement and clash between french and english has been way stronger in the past then it is now and stuff like this didn't happen since the 70s.

Well this situation specifically is pretty fucked up for sure but it's an unfortunate exception.

That is fucked up.

I also had no idea Quebec still experienced these kinds of issues. Hopefully this is the last time it escalates to this point as slim of a chance that might have.

@Vonocourt said:

That's pretty bad, and it makes this video make a bit more sense.

I don't understand why that guy is so angry.

@Vonocourt: Oh boy French people, damn it me, what did I just tell you... me?

@Vigil: Some people take Quebec culture very very very seriously. To the point of, well, you saw it in the video. Some of them are really worried that the French culture in Quebec, whatever it may be, will be overrun by English speaking citizens. The hilarious part is he says fuck you to them over and over again, after having complained about them not speaking French.

a third person was reported by the police to be in critical condition. Fuck this shit.

Very depressing news.

Also, here's an article about it in English if anyone's interested:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/quebecvotes2012/story/2012/09/05/marois-victory-speech-shot-fired.html

Here's the piece of shit.

@Vonocourt said:

That's pretty bad, and it makes this video make a bit more sense.

God, that video is frustrating to watch. On the flip side, I love how nice everyone else was to each other. "Hey man, have a great night!" Oh Canada...

@Milkman: yeah. This asshole is not representatives of Québécois. Don't think we are all racists; we're already dealing with plenty of such accusations. Of course, this guy here is not helping.

@AuthenticM said:

Here's the piece of shit.

He's not a looker, that's for sure.

Let me be very clear. He is one guy. The separatist movement died after the referendum failed.

In fact, the tuition issue is probably their biggest concern right now. Don't let this incident define your opinion of the Quebecers, or any Canadians for that matter.

@Mcfart said:

Let me be very clear. He is one guy. The separatist movement died after the referendum failed.

In fact, the tuition issue is probably their biggest concern right now. Don't let this incident define your opinion of the Quebecers, or any Canadians for that matter.

You've got to be kidding. The Parti Quebecois has had only one thing on their mind since the 70s. This is the political party that bombed postal offices, remember.

@Terramagi: The PQ did not bomb postal offices. That was the FLQ, a terrorist organization.

@Vigil: The French culture is to be angry, ignorant and protest everything.

Just read up on the results. Since the PQ have a minority, they won't be able to do shit in office, lest try to revitalize the separatist movement.

I remember reading about the "terrorist" groups that occurred during the separatist push. It's quite tragic; this aggressive retaliation is the very reason their movement didn't succeed in the first place I would imagine. Shame to hear that there's still some violent individuals out there for "the cause".

I've been to Quebec quite often, so I have a fair understanding of their desire to keep their waning culture alive. It's terrible that these sickos ruin it for the rest of them.

@Draxyle said:

I remember reading about the "terrorist" groups that occurred during the separatist push. It's quite tragic; this aggressive retaliation is the very reason their movement didn't succeed in the first place I would imagine. Shame to hear that there's still some violent individuals out there for "the cause".

I've been to Quebec quite often, so I have a fair understanding of their desire to keep their waning culture alive. It's terrible that these sickos ruin it for the rest of them.

And we're letting them. Why they would want more sovereignty is beyond ridiculous. Because of them, the rest of us have to take French until high school :(

It's awful that someone would think that such violence was necessary to send some kind of message. A real tragedy for Quebec. Hopefully the remaining victims will survive and people can use this as an opportunity to put aside their disagreements and come together in mourning and reflection.

@Vonocourt said:

That's pretty bad, and it makes this video make a bit more sense.

Man, that guy was an asshole! I was recently in Quebec with some friends and we got some weird stares because we were speaking in spanish, but at least no confrontations. Everyone was actually really nice, even though a lot of them didn't speak english so it was a bit difficult to interact with them.

I'm from Quebec but live in Ontario, sad news, all my thoughts go to the victims and their families.

This represents French and English about as well as the Tucson shooting represents Republican and Democrat. Which is to say, not at all.

And yeah the Parti Québécois is not really pushing for emancipation right now. Splitting into your own country is something you do when the economy is booming, not when everything is spiraling out of control.

Very sad & unfortunate.

I can understand the desire to keep up their distinctive history & culture alive & a very real fear of that being swamped by the Anglo-American cultural hegemony. It's an uphill struggle. But man alive do some of the Parti Quebecois (look, I'm Scottish, I know how to do umlauts without going into the character map, but accents are beyond me so you'll have to forgive me) have some pretty reactionary nationalist policies. Which is always disappointing. I mean wanting to propose a law to stop non-French speakers from running for office in Quebec? Jesus.

But you'd hope that as a minority government they'll have to compromise & so not pass these terrible ideas. I mean as a Scot who supports Scottish independence I certainly wish the people Quebec well in their quest for independence, but if they get it they need not to waste it pissing around with minor, populist & frankly xenophobic bollocks. Of course, as a minority government they'll not likely get a referendum to pass in this term of the Assembly.

@forkboy said:

Very sad & unfortunate.

I can understand the desire to keep up their distinctive history & culture alive & a very real fear of that being swamped by the Anglo-American cultural hegemony. It's an uphill struggle. But man alive do some of the Parti Quebecois (look, I'm Scottish, I know how to do umlauts without going into the character map, but accents are beyond me so you'll have to forgive me) have some pretty reactionary nationalist policies. Which is always disappointing. I mean wanting to propose a law to stop non-French speakers from running for office in Quebec? Jesus.

But you'd hope that as a minority government they'll have to compromise & so not pass these terrible ideas. I mean as a Scot who supports Scottish independence I certainly wish the people Quebec well in their quest for independence, but if they get it they need not to waste it pissing around with minor, populist & frankly xenophobic bollocks. Of course, as a minority government they'll not likely get a referendum to pass in this term of the Assembly.

The law about non-french speakers and running for office makes sense if the person doesn't speak a word of french. French is recognized as an official language not just in Quebec but in Canada as a whole. How are you supposed to run a Country or Province if you don't know it's official languages? Especially in Quebec where french still comes first overall, and is often the only language most people outside the big cities can speak fluently. Like Stephen Harper, he can speak french. Sure he looks like a robot while doing so but it's good enough, that's all were asking.

As for the rest of the policies regarding language most of them are purely common sense. French is an official language and you should be able to be served in french in restaurants and stores and whatnot. They're not saying to people they can't speak or advertise in english too. The most drastic measure the Parti Quebecois has is actually more restrictive for french speaker. They would make it illegal for native french speaker to go to an english school even after they completed high school. Whether it's professional, college or university. That's ridiculous and would never be accepted by the population anyway.

In any case the separatist movement is done, fewer and fewer people supports it and instead of uniting in one party the separatist keep spreading across more and more parties. There was barely enough people to potentially make it work 17 years ago in the last referendum, it's not gonna work now!

@Draxyle: I think you misunderstood, along with some people. The PQ, and Pauline Marois, are for the independance of Québec. The guy who tried to kill her, does not share her opinions. He hates nationalists; that's why he tried to kill her.

THE ENGLISH ARE RISING.

I support the French in their push for independence from WHITE Anglo-Americam thuggery. VIVA LA FRENCH CANADIANS, MAY THE ANGLO-WHITEYS GET WHAT THEY DESERVE.

@Vonocourt said:

That's pretty bad, and it makes this video make a bit more sense.

I grew up in Quebec as a non-white anglophone. No one has ever confronted me about my race or language. I did learn to speak french in school though so I could have said hello to this racist.

@AuthenticM said:

@Draxyle: I think you misunderstood, along with some people. The PQ, and Pauline Marois, are for the independance of Québec. The guy who tried to kill her, does not share her opinions. He hates nationalists; that's why he tried to kill her.

Oops, indeed I did. This is the first time I've heard of an English person being publicly violent to the French there (though I wouldn't really know otherwise). Really terrible either way.

@Draxyle: You should have seen the comments (now removed) on the Globe and Mail article about the incident. The filthiest stuff. A bunch of anglophones have already lost their jobs for comments made on the Internet in regards to this.

what the..

well, that doesn't make me any prouder to be living here. that's fucked up.

Whenever shit like this comes up it's always in Quebec. I don't know what they put in the poutine there, but it's getting tiresome.

@Oldirtybearon: Québec has the lowest crime rate in Canada, along with Prince Edward's Island. "Shit like this" never happens in Québec. The only time a similar thing has happened was 40 years ago during the October Crisis. That, and maybe along with Lortie, are nothing compared to what happens daily in the western provinces. This is the kind of stuff that one would expect to happen exclusively in either Alberta or Saskatchewan. Besides, the criminal does not seem to be Québecois. So far, the only information we have on him is his name, Richard Henry Bain, and that he had been living in Mont Tremblant for a while.

@AuthenticM said:

@Oldirtybearon: Québec has the lowest crime rate in Canada, along with Prince Edward's Island. "Shit like this" never happens in Québec. The only time a similar thing has happened was 40 years ago during the October Crisis. That, and maybe along with Lortie, are nothing compared to what happens daily in the western provinces. This is the kind of stuff that one would expect to happen exclusively in either Alberta or Saskatchewan. Besides, the criminal does not seem to be Québecois. So far, the only information we have on him is his name, Richard Henry Bain, and that he had been living in Mont Tremblant for a while.

I didn't say he was Quebecois. I said shit like this seems to always happen in Quebec. Which is a land mass, not a person. And "shit like this" doesn't just refer to political assassination.

Is that video basically like Québécois version of the South Central Riots?

@Oldirtybearon said:

@AuthenticM said:

@Oldirtybearon: Québec has the lowest crime rate in Canada, along with Prince Edward's Island. "Shit like this" never happens in Québec. The only time a similar thing has happened was 40 years ago during the October Crisis. That, and maybe along with Lortie, are nothing compared to what happens daily in the western provinces. This is the kind of stuff that one would expect to happen exclusively in either Alberta or Saskatchewan. Besides, the criminal does not seem to be Québecois. So far, the only information we have on him is his name, Richard Henry Bain, and that he had been living in Mont Tremblant for a while.

I didn't say he was Quebecois. I said shit like this seems to always happen in Quebec. Which is a land mass, not a person. And "shit like this" doesn't just refer to political assassination.

What he said first, "shit like this" never happens, is right though. Last time something like this happened was in October 1970. Saying that shit like this always seems to happen in Quebec is pure ignorance. You get events like this at most once a decade here. On top of my head i can only name 5 since 1970. And only 2 were political. Unless you want to count students manifesting in the streets because of rising tuition costs. Or retard Habs fans breaking windows when the Canadiens last won the Stanley Cup. People also got mad once at a Guns n' Roses and Metallica concert.

@Hailinel said:

Pardon my American ignorance, because I didn't realize that the situation in Quebec was that fucked up.

My condolences to the people that were shot, shot at, and their families.