Police in Gatineau, Que., continued their investigation Friday into violent threats to English-speaking Quebecers by a group calling itself the Ligue de Défense Nationale.
The Regional Association of West Quebecers, a group that defends the rights of English-speaking Outaouais residents, has received threatening e-mails from the Ligue de Défense Nationale, or National Defence League. The most recent was received Tuesday morning.
"It did read that this was our final warning in bold, capital letters," said André Hurtubise, executive director of the regional association. "And that if this didn't cease, they would put a little lead in our heads — du plomb dans la tête."
In an e-mail to CBC News, the Ligue de Défense justified the threats by writing that the association of West Quebecers is defending the "Englicization" of the Outaouais region.
They write that their actions could range from very simple to extremely violent.
"We believe that the peaceful action of the Quebec independence movement is not enough to defend the French language, the protection of Quebec territory in dealing with the threats of English people," the group wrote, in French, in an e-mail to CBC.
The group signed off its e-mail messages with the phrase "nous vaincrons" — "we will overcome."
Officials with the Quebec provincial police said they are aware of the group's existence but said they have no record of criminal acts involving its members.
Once the news of the Ligue de Défense had surfaced, Hurtubise articulated his concerns about people expressing prejudice.
In a comment posted the CBC News website, Hurtubise wrote, "As the recipient of the threatening e-mails, I ask that we not paint all Quebecers with the same brush. The majority of Quebecers are wonderful people with the exception of a few radicals such as those who sent me the e-mails. If we play their game and begin to insult each other, it is a certainty that matters will once again escalate to that which they were in the '70s, and no one wishes to relive that."
Gatineau police said Friday they are trying to find out where the threatening e-mails originated.
The Ligue de Défense has referred to itself as the "Nouveau FLQ." The FLQ, or Front de libération du Québec, was a Quebec separatist group that set off bombs in Montreal in the 1960s and launched Canada into the October Crisis in 1970, after it kidnapped British trade commissioner James Cross and later killed Quebec cabinet minister Pierre Laporte.
