TV pundit who joked about hunting Quebec separatists didn’t commit crime: cops

MONTREAL – Police say a well-known political commentator who joked on TV about hunting Quebec separatists didn’t commit any crime.

Luc Lavoie, a one-time spokesman for Brian Mulroney and a longtime former Quebecor executive, made the comment a week ago.

Groupe TVA suspended Lavoie last Wednesday after complaints were filed with Quebec provincial police.

A spokeswoman for the force said today police analyzed the comments and did not believe any criminal offence was committed.

Veronique Mercier, a TVA vice-president, says the network is aware no charges will be laid and that management will meet with Lavoie in the coming days

Lavoie made the remark while discussing petitions tabled in the provincial legislature that were for and against the legalization of squirrel hunting.

“We could take our guns like Americans, and shoot at squirrels … actually, I would have liked to be able to hunt the separatists, but it looks like it’s not possible,” he said with a chuckle on “La Joute,” a French-language current affairs show.

He later apologized for the comments after being pilloried on social media.

Before the police became involved, the network had said it considered Lavoie’s comments unacceptable but noted he’d apologized.