In the past 48 hours, Quebec’s media landscape has worked itself into a frenzy over the May 2 union demonstration in Montreal. The trigger: members of the group Workers’ Alliance staged a fake wooden guillotine that beheaded a papier-mâché oligarch.
Web writers short on stories on a Sunday jumped on the occasion to kick off “guillotine gate.” All party leaders and cabinet ministers in the province, from left to right, lined up to voice their disappointment and dismay over this terrible “political violence.” The major union federations followed, distancing themselves from the act. Within 48 hours, Quebec’s media went into overdrive, and Workers’ Alliance found itself at the center of the conversation.
Media commentators looked rattled, saying they had “never seen anything like this,” that “we don’t do that in Quebec,” that “that’s not how it works.”
At The North Star, we know politics and history can trip people up. So we put together a FAQ they can consult as needed.
Thanks as well to Nathalie Normandeau (former Quebec Liberal minister, later convicted of corruption charges, now a radio commentator) for the label “guillotine gate.”
Did Workers’ Alliance really behead Minister Boulet?
No. Despite the hysteria from mainstream journalists and commentators, it was a generic papier-mâché dummy.
Do acts like this belong in a democracy?
Democracy also includes the right to stage satirical political theatre. Around the world, for a long time, people have burned effigies of politicians and rolled out fake guillotines in protests. It’s an established tradition.
Speaking of tradition, a quick history refresher wouldn’t hurt party leaders and commentators: liberal democracy did not emerge through “dialogue, negotiation and compromise,” as Paul Saint-Pierre-Plamondon (leader of the Parti Québécois) claims. It was imposed by force: the American Revolution, the Glorious Revolution, the French Revolution (where the guillotine and the Declaration of the Rights of Man originated).
Far from being anti-democratic, the guillotine has remained a symbol of revolt for those who have nothing. It’s a warning to oligarchs about what can happen when they don’t give a damn about popular will. Maybe that’s why some politicians felt targeted?
Should members of Workers’ Alliance go to prison?
If we still believe in freedom of expression, no.
If we look at what has been done recently in Canada and the United States, no.
And if you’re Jean Boulet (Quebec’s Labour Minister)… do you panic over a papier-mâché dummy, think it’s aimed at you, then start calling your contacts to trigger an investigation by the Montreal police? Maybe, maybe not. Who knows what’s really going on in his head…
Is the Quebec people fundamentally peaceful?
Quebec’s history has long been marked by violence. A violence that blocks and harms, but also a violence that moves things forward.
On one side, the exploitation by the English bourgeoisie, or the violent seizure of Indigenous lands.
On the other, the violence of the Patriots’ Rebellion of 1837–1838 against British rule (also known as the Lower Canada Rebellion), which shook the monarchy, or the strike waves of the 1950s and ’60s, which won rights now taken for granted.
Saint-Pierre-Plamondon, Ghazal (Quebec Solidaire leader), Milliard (Quebec Liberal Party leader) and others have repeated that Quebecers have always advanced through discussion and negotiation. Then let’s be consistent: they should denounce the Patriots’ Rebellion, as well as the beloved union leader Michel Chartrand who supported the Front de libération du Québec!
Let’s be clear: The North Star will not be heading down that road.
Is the guillotine a call to murder?
Were the “Fuck Trudeau” flags from the Freedom Convoy a call for sexual assault against the prime minister?
Could Workers’ Alliance have gotten its message across another way?
We could go on about this. But at the end of the day, the May 2 protest was packed with signs and messages from all kinds of groups. And yet, all anyone talks about is the guillotine…
Is it unacceptable to support Workers’ Alliance’s action?
No.
Should theatrical guillotines be banned to “preserve our institutions”?
Paul Saint-Pierre-Plamondon raised the question in an interview. But the real question is: should our institutions be preserved?
PSPP doesn’t even see the irony in what he’s saying. He wants Quebec independence… meaning abandoning Canadian institutions he sees as harmful. Good for him!
But let’s be honest: Quebec and Canada’s institutions look increasingly broken. Cracks everywhere. The constitution is outdated. The economy and social system can’t even guarantee a decent standard of living. And people can get stuck for years with elected officials nobody wants, with no way to remove them.
In any case, if the goal is to slow down Workers’ Alliance, it will take a better argument than that.
Should this kind of act be banned to “protect the sense of safety of elected officials”?
Elected officials must be accountable to the public, especially when it is dissatisfied. And as far as anyone knows, the Canadian Constitution does not protect against being “offended” or feeling “a bit scared.” Given what they’re paid, and their often weak track record, the least they can do is grow a thicker skin.
Anyway, if the system shields them in an ivory tower, isn’t it worth reminding them from time to time that they remain human beings in a crowd?
Should Workers’ Alliance regret or apologize for its action?
More than anything, it’s striking to see so much public outrage over “guillotine gate,” while hundreds of workers are killed on the job in silence. As Workers’ Alliance noted in its statement: “in 2025 [in Quebec], as every year, more than 250 workers died due to workplace accidents or occupational illnesses, and no one has been punished.”
“And in January 2025, a certain Jean Boulet allowed Amazon to throw more than 4,500 workers out on the street. He refused to help them, while letting the American multinational act with total impunity.”
“That is the real violence of the elites. Those are shattered lives, families turned upside down. Faced with that, it is normal to see people rise up.”
What does Workers’ Alliance want?
While mainstream media go after Workers’ Alliance without clearly explaining what they stand for, we’ll give them the last word:
“Workers’ Alliance defends the prospect of a truly democratic system. A system where ordinary people don’t just vote for a representative every four years, but hold real power over the decisions that affect them: from everyday life in the shop and in the neighbourhood, to economic planning and foreign policy decisions. In the meantime, we continue to defend what little democracy is possible under the current system.”
“We are fighting for the prospect of a truly egalitarian world, free from socio-economic inequalities, national divisions and imperialist wars. True freedom will only be possible when workers take themselves the leadership of society, independently from monopolies, banks, corporations and other parasitic institutions that perpetuate inequality and prevent the majority of humanity from leading a dignified life.”
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