17 Quebec constituency offices targeted by protesters in recent weeks

A group of protesters vandalized the office of Quebec Minister Chantal Rouleau. (Scott Prouse/CTV News)

Quebec’s National Assembly president Nathalie Roy said on Tuesday that no fewer than 17 constituency offices have been targeted by demonstrators in recent weeks.

She believes that Quebec’s elected representatives are increasingly the victims of violence.

She was being questioned about the safety of elected representatives during the annual review of the legislature’s budgetary appropriations by Liberal MNA Filomena Rotiroti.

“Vandalism in a constituency office (...) is a crime,” said Roy. “Coming in wearing a balaclava, intimidating staff, causing mischief, stealing property, (...) all that is criminal law.”

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The National Assembly attributes the events to various “labour conflicts.” For example, earlier this month, correctional officers went to protest inside the office of Natural Resources Minister Maïté Blanchette Vézina.

“However, these incidents are also part of a broader context of violence against elected officials,” said Roy, pointing to the figures.

In 2024-2025, the National Assembly Security Directorate handled 498 calls from constituency offices claiming to have received threats or visits from disturbing individuals, among other things.

“This represents an increase of 19.4 per cent compared to 2023-2024,” said Roy.

Four hundred and seventeen files opened concerned members of the Quebec Legislature. Of these, 233 were “files of interest,” meaning that they are considered serious by the police.

“That worries me. It’s a significant increase (...) As far as politicians are concerned, we feel that there is an increase in violent comments, violence and mischief,” according to the president, who condemned a “deterioration” in the climate across Canada.

“We all realize that something is going on. The times when we are stopped can be more acerbic, the comments on social media can be devastating, violent and threatening,” she pointed out.

In addition, in 2024-2025, the National Assembly Security Directorate carried out 256 interventions within the precincts of Parliament, 122 of which were related to demonstrations.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on May 20, 2025.