The columnist who unveiled the identity of Catherine Fournier as a victim of Harold LeBel on television in December 2020, Stéphane Bédard, apologizes for his gesture and affirms that he initially wanted to “support the victims”. He will donate $10,000 to the Regroupement québécois des Centers d’aide et de Lutte contre les Agresses sxueles (CALACS).

This was announced by Ms. Fournier on Sunday evening, on the set of Everyone speaks about it, confirming that an agreement had been reached on Sunday morning. “Mr. Bédard has agreed to donate $10,000 to the Regroupement québécois des Centers d’aide et de Lutte contre les Agresses sxuels (CALACS). I salute him. I think it makes amends,” explained the mayor of Longueuil.

Former PQ member, Stéphane Bédard commented on the news on the program La Joute, on the airwaves of TVA at prime time, when he publicly revealed the identity of Catherine Fournier as a victim of Harold LeBel, while a publication ban was in effect. Mr. LeBel had just been arrested by the police on December 15, 2020.

It is with this intention that he says he let slip the name of his ex-colleague while he was on the air. “I was told in my ear: there’s a prescription, there’s a prescription,” he recalls. The lawyer claims to have apologized “through an intermediary” to Catherine Fournier shortly after his blunder. At the end of the line, however, he reiterates his sincere apologies “without any nuance”.

Ms. Fournier says above all that she “noted that the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions does not enforce the law”. “I intend to enforce my rights. It is for this reason that I turned to a civil lawyer who served a formal notice on Mr. Bédard. I have to say he was very proactive in his response. He sent me a sincere apology letter,” she said Sunday night.

“I probably wouldn’t be in front of you if the order had been carried out the way I wanted it to be. They didn’t let me decide, they decided for me. My right to privacy has been violated. I decide today to reclaim my story,” she insisted.

Catherine Fournier was a PQ member from 2016 to 2019, then independent until her election as mayor of Longueuil in 2021. She was 25 at the time of the events. Harold LeBel was 55. In an interview with La Presse last week, she denounced the lack of support and “solidarity” she received at the National Assembly in the wake of this affair.

His release sparked several reactions in the National Assembly, with elected officials recognizing the need for broader reflection on protocols in the event of criminal charges against deputies.