1 year later, Quebec City remembers victims of horrific Halloween stabbing attacks

It was under pouring rain and gusts of cold wind that politicians, neighbours, friends and families came together at 1 p.m. on Sunday to commemorate the victims of last year's fatal stabbing attack on Halloween in Quebec City. 

The ceremony, which was organized by the city, took place simultaneously at three different locations where the attacks occurred in the city's historic district.

François Duchesne, 56, and Suzanne Clermont, 61, were killed on Oct. 31, 2020 when a man dressed in medieval clothing attacked them with a sword. The man wounded five more people that night, three of whom attended the sombre event.

"We are here to never forget," said Quebec's outgoing mayor Régis Labeaume in an opening speech in front of city hall.

"To never forget Suzanne Clermont, to remember her love of life, her kindness, her cheerfulness," he said. "To never forget François Duchesne, to remember his goodness, his devotion, his commitment to the arts and to his city."

Labeaume also saluted the five victims who were injured, letting them know Quebecers were with them in their healing journey. 

A minute of silence followed his speech, after which Labeaume invited friends and families of the victims and everyone else in attendance to walk with him to the two locations where Clermont and Duchesne were killed and where pictures of them had been set up to honour them.

People paid tribute to Clermont at a bench dedicated to her on des Remparts Street, as one of her favourite songs, Charles Aznavour's La Bohème, played over speakers in the background.

At the site dedicated to Duchesne at Place d'Armes, a well-known square in the centre of Old Quebec, people paid their respects amid the sound of classical music, including the symphonic performance of Histoire sans Paroles, which Duchesne was fond of.

Loved ones placed bouquets of white flowers wrapped in music sheets at each location, hugging each other for support.

A plaque honouring the victims was also unveiled in front of city hall for the event. 

"The day after this tragedy, Quebec's population and the entire world was with five people on their way to recovery, and mourning the deaths of two of their own," the plaque reads. "Their memory is forever engraved in the heart of our city." 

The memorial will be set up permanently at Place d'Armes in the spring of 2022.

There was increased police presence at the event, with officers blocking the roads and surveilling the area – providing a sense of security that contrasted sharply with the uncertainty and terror that reigned on the night of the attacks.