Jean Boulet, Quebec’s labour minister, is set to file a police complaint over a now-widely circulated video which showed protesters using a makeshift guillotine to behead a puppet bearing his likeness.
Montreal police have already opened an investigation into the event which took place during a May Day demonstration Saturday in Montreal.
On Tuesday, Boulet confirmed to reporters that he would personally file a complaint with the Montreal police, describing the act as deeply troubling.
“It’s true that it made me extremely sensitive,” he said at the start of the parliamentary session. “I felt threatened.”
“In our society, we cannot accept events of this nature,” he added. “When you are the person depicted, the one who is beheaded, it hurts.”
Thousands of demonstrators had come together to mark International Workers’ Day, and most marched peacefully through the city. But the guillotine scene has since overshadowed the broader demonstration.
The activist group behind the act, Alliance Ouvrière, said the effigy was not meant to represent Boulet specifically, and instead framed the performance as a historical reference to popular anger against ruling classes, arguing that the real threat to democracy lies elsewhere.
The union organizations behind the protest — the CSD, CSN, CSQ and FTQ — said in a statement that they “dissociate entirely from this isolated action.”
“In our society, we cannot accept events of this nature. When you are the person depicted, the one who is beheaded, it hurts,” says Labour Minister Jean Boulet. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette files
Boulet, however, dismissed the unions’ statement. He said: “My understanding of things is this: dissociating oneself is not the same as denouncing someone. Dissociating oneself means: ‘It wasn’t me.’”
It also comes amid heightened tensions between the Quebec government and organized labour following Bill 3, which restricts unions’ ability to fund legal challenges and political activities.
Critics, including the Barreau du Québec, have warned the legislation risks undermining democratic rights. The government has defended it as necessary reform.
Earlier this week, Premier Christine Fréchette condemned the imagery, along with the leaders of the Quebec Liberal Party and Parti Québécois.
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