Stéphane Gendron

Gendron was elected Mayor of Huntingdon in November 2003[1] and was re-elected without opposition for a four-year term in November 2005,[2] and re-elected in November 2009. He stepped down from municipal politics at the end of his mandate on November 2013.

Gendron first gained media attention by enacting a municipal curfew forcing minors to stay off the street after 10 p.m. in Huntingdon, in an attempt to reduce juvenile crime. Following threats of litigation, the municipal council withdrew the proposed curfew. It was later discovered that the authors of the crime spree were, in fact, both adults.

In 2005, he claimed that Quebec premier Jean Charest was a "murderer" ("meurtrier") for his government's initial refusal to subsidize Herceptin, a new drug against breast cancer;[3] he later apologized for these comments after being served legal papers.[4]

Gendron has courted controversy for his statements about the state of Israel. During the Israel/Lebanon war of 2006, he stated in an interview with Le Soleil that Israelis are modern-day Nazis ("Les Israéliens, ce sont les nazis des temps modernes");[3] he later clarified that was referring to the current Government of Israel, but stated that it was not exaggerated to compare that government with the Nazis.[5]

In December 2011, Gendron was criticized for a broadcast of his show Face à Face in which he stated that “Products made in Israel on land stolen from the Palestinians that is walled in, in an apartheid regime where they are cut off, it’s very serious.... And a country like that does not deserve to exist.” The remarks sparked outrage from Jewish groups after a clip of the show was posted on YouTube by HonestReporting Canada, a website that monitors the media for anti-Israel bias. The California-based Simon Wiesenthal Center has since launched a protest against the network demanding Mr. Gendron’s show be cancelled. In response, Gendron stated that he was not promoting hate speech against Jews or Israel, but rather taking issue with the country’s politics, writing in an email that “I am defending a state with both Palestine and Israel living together, I may be naive, but this is my position. Israel as it is today is not my cup of tea.”[6]

In December 2007, Gendron wrote on his blog that "A modern and intellectually free society should submit all form of organized 'religion' to the dictates of the fundamental values of our society." After citing the example of Fred Phelps, Gendron concluded, "Why live in accordance with religious values prescribed millennia before us? Isn't life too short to confine yourself to dogmas written in a time when man was almost nothing."[7][8]

On January 12, 2009, Stéphane Gendron insulted Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a letter that he also posted on his blog. for his support of Israel during the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict.[9]

Dear Prime Minister Stephen Harper:

Considering the vote taken at the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations in Geneva and the position of Canada in regards of the genocide conducted by the Zionist Government of Israel:

On behalf of my Administration:

You are a shame for Canada;
You are just disgusting;
You have no clue of History and Humanity;
You are just a band-wagon follower of Israel, its racist Government, and the dumb president Bush and the Republican Party;

Go and read some history books. Your position do not represent the majority of Canadians and you have no mandate to encourage the criminals of the Government of Israel.
You act like Chamberlain dealing with Hitler before World War II.
Just a plain blind sinister person — You are.

The Mayor of Huntingdon (Quebec),
Stephane Gendron
January 12, 2009

In January 2009, Stéphane Gendron was accused by Huntingdon town councillor Tonya Welburn of criminal and sexual harassment over an 18-month period. A complaint has been lodged with the Quebec Human Rights Commission. Same thing for criminal accusations. This chapter is directly related to a fight led by a former Member of the National Assembly for Huntingdon. Tonya Welburn lost her seat during the general election of November 2009, as well as her father who was also a councillor but running for mayor. Gendron got close to 66% of the popular vote.[10] Gendron denied the accusation.[11]

Stéphane Gendron claimed that he enthusiastically ran over cats with his pickup truck on his radio show, which aired on July 9, 2013 on CHOI 91.9 Radio X.[12] His comments were denounced by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and a petition was launched that demanded he be investigated.[12] He later apologized for his comments, claiming he had exaggerated.[13] He also claimed it was dark humour that was taken too seriously and out of context by animal advocacy groups.[14]