The president of the FTQ, Magali Picard, recognizes that there was a “regime of terror”

The president of the FTQ, Magali Picard, only took the full measure of the fear that Rénald Grondin inspired last year, after meeting twice the woman he attacked. If the man has caused other victims within the union, they must come out of the shadows, she believes.

• Also read: The former president of the FTQ-Construction Rénald Grondin is a “boss”, according to the president of the FTQ, Magali Picard

“I became aware at that moment that there had been a regime of terror. Before that, I had no idea,” Magali Picard told us when we contacted her to comment on the recording obtained by our Bureau of Investigation.

“She shared her story with me which, as a woman, completely shook me […]. I was upset and shocked,” says M.^me Picard.

Climate of fear

Like the victim, Magali Picard believes that employees of FTQ-Construction (FTQ-C) might not have told everything to investigator Anaïs Lacroix, from the firm Latitude Management. This was mandated in 2022 to understand how Rénald Grondin was able to access the presidency of the union without being worried by the attacks he had committed years before.

“Once we leave this regime of terror, I imagine we do everything not to return there. If I, as an employee, were met to take me back to that period, I might be afraid. If I have witnessed unacceptable situations, if I have seen a colleague suffer and experience harassment, I may try to avoid that at all costs,” illustrates M^me Picard.

After meeting around twenty witnesses, M^e Lacroix said in his report, made public in the winter of 2023, that it could not be concluded “predominantly” that the executives of the Association of Inter-Provincial Maneuvers (AMI) and the FTQ-C were aware of the attacks by Grondin when the latter became president in 2018. But it was “probable” that certain people had acquired “more or less in-depth knowledge” of the affair, according to She.

We have joined M^e Lacroix to ask her if she had had access to all the information necessary to carry out her mandate.

“As part of an investigation, we are limited by our mandate, the role of a workplace investigator and the applicable burden of proof. We do not have, for example, the powers of a judge or a commission of inquiry to subpoena witnesses, collect evidence under oath and demand documents,” she said. commented in writing.

The report of M^e Lacroix also noted the fact that “more than one witness reported having suffered unwanted advances from” Mr. Grondin at the same time.

“These abusers take advantage of their reputation”

Magali Picard calls on other potential victims to come out of the shadows if they wish.

“I encourage people who experience harassment to report it. […] These abusers take advantage of their reputation and their power to muzzle [les victimes]and these are lifelong repercussions. In the case of the complainant we are talking about, this person was recognized as unfit for work for life,” said the head of the union center on this subject. “The #MeToo period reassured me. Finally, women were speaking. But we must not return to those years, where people made careers out of abusing and intimidating people. […]. For me, this is unacceptable. We are somewhere else. We must trust our authorities and denounce,” also says Magali Picard.

The latter ensures that the rules of appointment and ethics have been strengthened since the events at the FTQ-C, which otherwise operates independently, like the other affiliates of the FTQ. “The standards are now the strictest in the country,” she says.