09/06/2012
NEWS STORY
1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve claims he has received death threats after voicing his frustration with protestors in Quebec.
The Quebec-born racer, who is working for the Sky F1 channel this weekend, was incensed when protestors attempted to disrupt an official event due to kick-off the Grand Prix weekend on Thursday evening.
Once the protestors had been seen off by the police, Villeneuve, always one of the more outspoken drivers on the grid, was only too keen to share his opinion with reporters.
"It's time for people to wake up and stop loafing about," he said. "It's lasted long enough. We heard them. We listened. They should stop. It's costing the city a fortune. It makes no sense.
"I think these people grew up without ever hearing their parents ever tell them, 'No.' So that's what you see in the streets now. People spend their time complaining. It's becoming a little bit ridiculous. They spoke, we heard, and now it's time to go back to school."
Police quickly surrounded the protestors, thought to number around a hundred, arresting twenty of them. Wearing masks and black clothing to prevent subsequent identification, Police claimed that some of the protestors were carrying light bulbs filled with paint.
"In a democracy, people can vote, and speak their mind between elections to make themselves heard," added Villeneuve, "but they have to know when to give it a rest. That's what democracy is. We vote for people, and if you're not happy, then you vote for other people the next time around. And if you're not happy you complain, they listen, and that's it. Same with your parents: 'Daddy, mommy, I don't like this.' Well, go back to bed now."
Speaking to La Presse late on Friday however, Villeneuve revealed that he had received emails containing death threats following his comments.
"For people who laud the right of free expression, I find it ridiculous that I wouldn't have the right to say what I think," he told the newspaper, adding that if, as threatened, the protestors block the subway lines to the track on Sunday it would be akin to an act of "terrorism".