Prime Minister François Legault “had no friends” in the village of Clova, which he condemned to burn down in front of all of Quebec in early June, sparking real panic among its residents.
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“When Legault put the finger on Clova and said we were left to burn, that will be remembered at the next election!” says Dominic Tremblay, who sits at the bar at Auberge Clova.
When our journalist mentions this shocking statement by the Prime Minister on June 5th, several people in the room turn and react.
“He doesn’t even know where Clova is. He has never been here and he will not put on his boots to come here!” David Pichet, 53, starts spontaneously.
The latter, who owns two chalets in Clova, was outside the village when he heard the prime minister’s words.
“I thought, that doesn’t make any sense!” he mentions and admits that it scared him at the time.
In fact, that day, SOPFEU finally began to bring the fires that were threatening Clova under control.
“Legault, he hasn’t made friends anywhere here!” He wasn’t Ben Ben Smatte, starts before his beer Pierre Thibodeau, 73 years old. He accuses the prime minister of misinforming himself before dropping such a bombshell.
The prime minister has nonetheless created a major “panic”, particularly among the evacuated residents and among citizens’ families, says Meggie Richard, who works at Auberge Clova.
“Everyone called us to find out if it was true. I got a lot of calls from journalists. It was madness.”
Even among those who were still in the village, a certain doubt spread, which forced the SOPFEU teams to calm everyone down.
Despite the ordeal, some see the bright side of things in this surreal episode for Clova.
“Often you call somewhere, even the government, and the officials don’t know where Clova is, but then we get put on the map!” It’s the first time we’ve gotten the same media coverage,” said Pierre Thibodeau.
“The price of our country will go up!” jokes Dominic Tremblay.