Closing arguments in Metropolis election-night shooting lawsuit to begin May 26

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Closing arguments will begin later this month in the lawsuit involving four technicians who say they were left traumatized by the murder and attempted murder of their colleagues outside the Metropolis nightclub following the 2012 provincial election.

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During a brief hearing held Monday before Quebec Superior Court Justice Philippe Bélanger, a lawyer representing Quebec’s attorney general said they will file a written and sworn statement from a police investigator concerning six threats made toward Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois hours before her party won the election in 2012. The statement will be the final piece of evidence in the case.

Bélanger set May 26 and 27 as dates to hear closing arguments.

The statement will be entered into the court record this month. Bélanger was informed that four of the threats were made over social media and two were made by young teenagers. In at least one case, Montreal police apprehended and questioned a person who they say made one of the six threats.

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During the trial, Sûreté du Québec investigators said the threats were checked out immediately and were not considered serious. But SQ bodyguards who were assigned to protect Marois and other members of the PQ party on the day of the election were not informed of the threats.

The SQ conducted an internal review of what happened the night of the Sept. 4, 2012 election — when Richard Henry Bain showed up at the nightclub and fired a single shot that killed a technician named Denis Blanchette and wounded another, Dave Courage — and concluded there was a breakdown in communication and the bodyguards should have been informed of the threats. This was despite the fact that Bain was found to have acted on his own de ella when he sought to kill Marois while she was delivering her victory speech de ella. His rifle jammed after he fired toward the group of technicians, who were taking a break outside.

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The technicians who filed the lawsuit — Guillaume Parisien, Jonathan Dubé, Audrey Dulong-Bérubé and Gaël Ghiringhelli — say they were left traumatized from witnessing the shooting and, later, the realization that their lives were spared because Bain’s rifle jammed.

They are collectively seeking $600,000 from the attorney general and the city of Montreal, in their claim that insufficient security was in place outside the club.

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