Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Apparent shot fired during Marois victory speech [Montreal, Quebec]
CBC News ^ | Sep 4, 2012 8:00 PM ET | unattributed

Posted on 09/04/2012 10:03:33 PM PDT by Hunton Peck

Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois was rushed off the stage during her victory speech after a starter pistol was fired, prompting a quick response form security officials.

She returned a few minutes later and urged supporters who packed Montreal's Metropolis concert hall to leave camly.

"There was a little unfortunate incident," she said.

Montreal police could be seen taking a man into custody outside the building.

After battling back from inner party turmoil and record lows in party support, Pauline Marois and the Parti Québécois have claimed victory over the incumbent Liberals. The PQ will return to power with a minority government after almost a decade in opposition.

Marois, 63, will now become the province's first female premier.

Before the incident, Marois took the podium as the gleeful crowd burst into a round of Gens du Pays, a nationalist anthem, Marois told all Quebecers she was hopeful they could put aside their differences for a united Quebec.

"Voters have made a choice and we will respect it, and we will govern with all other parties at the national assembly," she told the packed room at Montreal's Metropolis concert hall.

"We are all there to serve Quebecers. And I'm sure we will be able to find the right compromises. It's time to regain confidence to make the right decisions."

In English, Marois told anglophone Quebecers that their rights would be respected.

"We share the same history, and I want us to shape together our future," she said.

While the minority win falls short of the majority the PQ made a heavy pitch for, it marks a significant loss for the Liberals, who, after nine years in power, gambled on a summer election a year before the end of their mandate.

Long-time premier Jean Charest lost his bet that student turmoil and a soft economy would be enough to push voters to support a Liberal government for a fourth term.


TOPICS: Canada; Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: partiqubcois; paulinemarois; premier; quebec
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-24 next last
Though this story says that it was a starter pistol fired, Montreal Police tweeted the following:
Police Montréal ‏@SPVM

Regarding the event that just happened at Metropolis : 2 people injured and 1 person arrested. More info will follow shortly. #Qc2012

and earlier:
Police Montréal ‏@SPVM

Around midnight, in back of the Metropolis, a man opened fire and wounded two people (critical condition). The man was arrested. #Qc2012


1 posted on 09/04/2012 10:03:41 PM PDT by Hunton Peck
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck
Now this:
CBC Montreal CBC Montreal ‏@CBCMontreal

Police confirm one death in the apparent shooting at the Metropolis. #qc2012


2 posted on 09/04/2012 10:05:19 PM PDT by Hunton Peck (Life, liberty, property, and the means to defend them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck
And this odd entry:
CBC Montreal ‏@CBCMontreal

At least one shot directed at two people. One man in critical condition, other is unknown. Pauline Marois is still inside, in good condition


3 posted on 09/04/2012 10:07:34 PM PDT by Hunton Peck (Life, liberty, property, and the means to defend them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck

What they need in Canada is a gun registry. Then, this kind of thing would never happen.


4 posted on 09/04/2012 10:08:20 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/quebecvotes2012/story/2012/09/05/marois-victory-speech-shot-fired.html?cmp=rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter


5 posted on 09/04/2012 10:11:45 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck

One does have to admit, by the royalty and press keeping the public calm, and denying this killer some publicity, they are DISCOURAGING further crime.


6 posted on 09/04/2012 10:19:39 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 ( If you think I'm crazy, just wait until you talk to my invisible friend.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck
"This is Canada. We will dispose of this troublemaker quietly."


7 posted on 09/04/2012 10:22:31 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 ( If you think I'm crazy, just wait until you talk to my invisible friend.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Lancey Howard
Thanks for the updated link from the CBC:
Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois was abruptly rushed off stage mid-way through her victory speech after a shot was fired and a fire set behind the downtown Montreal venue where her supporters had gathered.

Montreal police said one person died in the shooting and a second person was injured and in critical condition.

Police took one person into custody, a man in his 50s who was allegedly involved in the events at the Metropolis concert hall.

The man entered the venue from the back just before midnight, police said.

"He shot at least one shot toward two victims," Const. Danny Richer said.

"We don't know what was [behind] that event," Richer said. "Our investigators are going to meet with him overnight."

It wasn't clear how close the suspect came to the PQ leader, he said.

Police said they recovered one weapon, but didn't release further details.

Television images show police taking a man into custody outside the concert hall, dressed in a housecoat.

The suspect, while being dragged toward the police cruiser, could be heard shouting in French, "The English are waking up!"

Marois returned to the stage a short time after the incident and asked the crowd to calmly leave the building before concluding with a few more lines of thanks and congratulations.

Police said she was in "good condition" and was not harmed.

Who, exactly, was wearing that housecoat?
8 posted on 09/04/2012 10:47:09 PM PDT by Hunton Peck (Life, liberty, property, and the means to defend them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck

Pauline Marois is a socialist as well as a sovereigntist. That won’t fly well with English Canada.


9 posted on 09/04/2012 10:56:53 PM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck

Here’s the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjfNuWclkiI


10 posted on 09/04/2012 11:24:23 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck

One shot - 2 hits...sounds like he was going for a “Quigley”


11 posted on 09/05/2012 2:05:46 AM PDT by Tainan (Cogito, ergo conservatus sum)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck

A man in his 40s was shot dead an another critically wounded near where Pauline Marois was giving her victory speech to supporters before midnight Tuesday, prompting a swift response from the Parti Québécois leader’s security team and an evacuation of the downtown Montreal concert hall.

A man was swiftly arrested outside the venue and a rifle seized.

The man, wearing a blue robe and with his face partially covered by a balaclava, allegedly entered the venue from the back as Marois was giving a jubilant address calling for unity among Quebecers. The back door was about six metres from the stage.

“He shot at least one shot toward two victims,” Const. Danny Richer said.

A second man was critically injured in the incident, according to Montreal police. Just before 1 a.m., police confirmed a man in his 40s was pronounced dead at the scene.

A third man was taken to hospital and treated for shock.

“I would be lying to you to confirm 100 per cent that there was no danger to her or the people inside, but the shot was fired at the back of the building,” Cmdr. Ian Lafrenière of the Montreal police told reporters outside the scene.

“For us, this is considered a homicide scene,” Lafrenière said. It’s the city’s 22nd homicide of the year.

“What age exactly [the victim was], what was he doing here, I’m not going to confirm that,” he said, adding the man’s family had not yet been notified.

The gunman allegedly set a fire at the rear door of the building before he was detained by police.

Officers who were on scene extinguished the fire, Lafrenière said. Television images showed officers holding a man on the ground before he was led to a police car as well as officers handling a weapon that appeared to be an assault rifle.

The man shouted in French at TV cameras while being dragged toward the cruiser, “The English are waking up!” Police would only say that he spoke with an accent.


12 posted on 09/05/2012 3:54:47 AM PDT by Snowyman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: UCANSEE2

BLAME CANADA....!!


13 posted on 09/05/2012 4:24:27 AM PDT by njslim (St)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck

Cede New England to Quebec!!


14 posted on 09/05/2012 4:28:31 AM PDT by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12 ..... Present failure and impending death yield irrational action))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck; Clive; exg; Alberta's Child; albertabound; AntiKev; backhoe; Byron_the_Aussie; ...

Canada Ping!

15 posted on 09/05/2012 7:11:54 AM PDT by Squawk 8888 (Tories in- now the REAL work begins!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/05/canada-quebec-marois-idUSL2E8K51OL20120905 And another source says long rifle, shooting, etc. This is dated today.


16 posted on 09/05/2012 12:35:14 PM PDT by muawiyah
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hunton Peck

If I lived in elsewhere in Canada, especially Alberta, I’d be delighted to see the pesky Québécois leave the Confederation.

I wonder how it would affect the US, if at all. Presumably they would want to continue in NAFTA, but perhaps not.


17 posted on 09/05/2012 3:53:07 PM PDT by ccmay (Too much Law; not enough Order.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ccmay

Quebec should leave Canada.....I believe that they would thrive. At least they still have respect for their history & culture and are not as self-loathing as much of the western world is. They have become a dumping ground for immigrants & they are sick of it.....so that trend would stop. They want to remain a first world nation....I say good on them !


18 posted on 09/05/2012 4:04:24 PM PDT by LongWayHome
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: ccmay

I recall that in the run-up to the referendum in 1995, there was some talk of secession by the Western provinces if the separatists won, with some speculation about them joining the US.

None of that was all that serious, of course, and it became moot altogether once the separatists lost, but there are some potentially significant consequences even beyond Quebec. Just the implications for the oil and gas industries are pretty big.


19 posted on 09/05/2012 7:34:22 PM PDT by Hunton Peck (Life, liberty, property, and the means to defend them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: LongWayHome

I enjoy visiting the province and city of Québec, especially Vieux-Québec, and speak enough French to get around just fine. It would probably become even more exotic for Anglophone visitors, but simultaneously perhaps more welcoming to tourists as they found they needed to depend more on their own attractions and initiative, and less on subsidies from the western provinces.


20 posted on 09/06/2012 3:45:15 PM PDT by ccmay (Too much Law; not enough Order.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-24 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson