Powder, threats sent to cabinet ministers

Source cites threatening note, police say substance harmless

Suspicious envelopes containing white powder were sent to the Quebec riding offices of four federal cabinet ministers, with a source saying that one of the envelopes contained a threat: “Conservatives, you will be annihilated.”

Two staff members were sent to hospital after envelopes were received at the offices of Denis Lebel, Maxime Bernier, Christian Paradis and Steven Blaney.

Lebel issued a statement Thursday afternoon.

“This morning, my constituency office received a suspicious package,” said the Infrastructure Minister, whose Roberval riding is north of Quebec City. “These actions are taken very seriously. The safety of Canadians is a priority for our government. There can be no doubt that we will not be intimidated.”

Lebel’s office was reportedly evacuated after a staff member found white powder in an envelope. Two employees who came into contact with the powder were told not to leave the office as firefighters examined the scene.

The employee who came in contact with the envelope complained of nausea and headaches and was transported to hospital, according to reports published by TVA.

Quebec’s provincial police confirmed that the substance was harmless. No information was available on the other envelopes.

According to a spokesman for Bernier, Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism, his Beauce constituency office received a suspicious envelope Thursday that seemed to contain powder. They put it in a sealed plastic bag and handed it to Quebec police.

No one in his office was injured or taken to hospital. The office was evacuated and was to remain closed until further notice by police.

Another envelope containing white powder was found in the Thetford Mines riding office of Paradis, who is International Development Minister.

A spokesman for Paradis said a staff member at the minister’s office opened the package at about 12:30 p.m., at which point she saw the powder.

Police were called and the staff member was taken to hospital as a precaution. The minister was not in the office at the time.

While nobody at the Levis office of Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney was in contact with mail, police removed a suspicious envelope, said provincial police spokesman Richard Gagne.

Blaney, who has been spearheading the Conservative government’s anti-terrorism legislation, released a statement Thursday confirming that envelopes “containing suspicious powder substances” were received by some Quebec MPs.

Gagne refused to confirm if written messages were included in any of the envelopes.