40 years ago the shooting took place at the National Assembly

Photo: Archives Le Devoir On May 8, 1984, after several hours of negotiations with Sergeant-at-Arms René Jalbert (left), Denis Lortie (right) finally agreed to surrender.

Thomas Laberge – The Canadian Press in Quebec

Published at 4:20 p.m.

• Quebec

Forty years ago today, Corporal Denis Lortie burst into the National Assembly with the aim of killing Prime Minister René Lévesque and the Parti Québécois deputies.

Heavily armed, the man killed three people and injured 13. After several hours of negotiations with Sergeant-at-Arms René Jalbert, the shooter finally agreed to surrender.

To (re)read

• Lortie or the era of security
• “No society, anywhere in the world, is any longer completely safe”: René Lévesque’s statement the day after the shooting

MP Pascal Bérubé remembers this tragedy well and makes a link with the Métropolis attack against Prime Minister Pauline Marois in 2012.

“Twice in our history, our political party has been targeted by killers who wanted to cause enormous damage with a weapon,” he said.

The solidarity deputy Étienne Grandmont wanted to commemorate the memory of the victims who fell under the bullets. “We would like to remember Camille Lepage, Georges Boyer and Roger Lefrançois who died during the events,” he said.

“It was an attack against our democracy. We wanted to highlight the work of the constables who are here to ensure the proper functioning of the National Assembly,” said Liberal MP Frédéric Beauchemin.