A mayor in Canada wants other sexual assault survivors to know ‘they’re not alone’
Global News
Catherine Fournier, 31, said she 'comes out of this with her head held high' after she reported her sexual assault by former PQ politician Harold LeBel.
After revealing she was sexually assaulted by a former colleague and friend, political powerhouse Catherine Fournier is speaking out.
“I want victims to know they’re not alone,” Fournier, 31, said. “That even a woman in the public sphere, a political figure can be a victim of sexual assault and choose to denounce it.”
The mayor of Longueuil, Que., revealed she was the victim of ex-Parti Québécois MNA Harold LeBel, who was recently convicted and sentenced to eight months in prison for sexually assaulting her in 2017.
Long seen as a rising star in the floundering PQ’s ranks, Fournier was elected when she was just 24 to the provincial legislature in a byelection win in 2016. After claiming victory again in 2018, she left the party to sit as an Independent MNA in 2019.
Fournier then made the jump to municipal politics in 2021 in a bid for mayor of one of Quebec’s largest cities. Her newly formed party won by a landslide in Longueuil, a suburb on Montreal’s south shore.
More than two years after Fournier was sexually assaulted by LeBel at his home in Rimouski, she filed a complaint with police. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, she said memories of that night became increasingly persistent.
LeBel, 60, was arrested in December 2020 and sentenced earlier this year, after a jury found him guilty. He was granted parole this month. He was also sentenced to two years probation, prohibited from contacting Fournier and ordered to be registered as a sex offender for 20 years.
Fournier then sought to remove the publication ban, which was lifted earlier this week. This comes as a documentary is broadcast about her case, though at first she wasn’t sure she wanted to be reveal her identity.
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