Ex-Gatineau councillor among hostages freed after Mali attack
Three Canadians — one of them a former Gatineau city councillor who now works for the House of Commons — were among the hostages freed after Islamic extremists stormed a luxury hotel in a deadly attack in Bamako, Mali, on Friday.
Patrice Martin was one of around 170 people — 140 guests and 30 employees — locked in the Radisson Blu in the Malian capital.
About 27 people were killed in the attack.
Martin, an author who served as a Gatineau city councillor from 2005 to 2013 and as president of la Société des transports de l’Outaouais (STO), is Parliament’s acting deputy principal clerk. He was in Mali on a diplomatic support mission with the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie.
Heather Bradley, director of communications with the House of Commons, confirmed Martin, who is in his early 50s, “is still there but safe.”
Earlier on Friday, a spokeswoman for Quebec’s national assembly said Maxime Carrier-Legare, an employee of the legislature, was also among the freed hostages. Noémie Cimon-Mattar said Carrier-Legare has been working as an adviser to an association of francophone parliaments since 2011.
A third Canadian, Montreal lawyer Pierre Boivin, a partner in the firm McCarthy Tetrault, was also safe, a spokeswoman for the firm said.
“Both his family and friends at McCarthy Tetrault are tremendously relieved,” Helene Sansoucy said in an email.
Gunfire could be heard into the late afternoon Friday, and Malian army commander Modibo Nama Traore said operations were continuing. An extremist group, led by Moktar Belmoktar that two years ago split from al-Qaida’s North Africa branch, claimed responsibility for the attack, in a recorded statement carried by AlJazeera.
The group said it wanted its fighters in Mali’s prisons freed and for attacks against northern Malians to stop.
Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion and Marie-Claude Bibeau, minister of international development and La Francophonie, issued a joint statement Friday afternoon, saying they were appalled by the attack.
“We are deeply concerned by the attack at the Bamako hotel today. Such indiscriminate acts of violence against innocent civilians are unacceptable and are to be condemned,” the statement said.
“All Canadians known to be at the hotel are safe and we are providing assistance. The Government of Canada is working with our embassy and with our allies to ensure the safety of Canadians.”
Canadians who want to check on the safety of family and friends in Bamako can contact the 24/7 Emergency Watch and Response Centre at Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada by calling 613-996-8885 or toll-free at 1-800-387-3124 or by sending an email to sos@international.gc.ca.