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Shawinigan Handshake

The Shawinigan Handshake refers to an incident where Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien put a protestor in a chokehold. It was named after Chrétien's hometown of Shawinigan, Quebec.

Incident

On February 15, 1996, then-Prime Minister of Canada Jean Chrétien attended a celebration for National Flag of Canada Day at Jacques-Cartier Park in Hull, Quebec. As he was making a speech to the crowd, anti-poverty protesters began to yell and disrupt the event which caused him to cut his speech short. The protestors were not happy with the government over cuts that they were making to the program for unemployment insurance. When he was making his way back to his car, Chrétien was confronted by protestor Bill Clennett who yelled at him “Chretien, you should be unemployed!”. Prime Minister Chrétien proceeded to put Clennett in a chokehold and forced him to the ground which caused the crown on his teeth to break, as well as, knocking the megaphone out of another protestor's hands.[1]

Chrétien defending his handling of the situation by saying: “Some people come my way, and I had to go, so if you’re in my way.” and “I just moved him and I wish I had not to do that. Some people were in my way. I had to go. I had to keep walking.”[2] He has since recreated the "handshake" multiple times since then including during a photo op with then-Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff, with comedian Rick Mercer, and then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.[3][4]

Clennett did not press charges but another protestor did. Chrétien was charged with assault but the charges were dropped.[5] Clennett decided to run as a member of the Québec solidaire in the National Assembly of Quebec but did not win. Since the incident, Clennett has spoken out, saying: “He’s a buffoon. It was just outrageous and it was something that never happened before. Chretien plays this persona. He’s not an idiot but he doesn’t act always intelligently from my perspective and he thinks this is something funny.” Clennett was visited at home by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and was offered to pay the $560 dental fee. He took the money but used it instead to take out an ad in Le Droit newspaper to criticize the government.[6]

Global Television cameraman Phil Nolan filmed the moment and later won a Canadian Press photo of the year award for it.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "The prime minister and the protester". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved July 11, 2026.
  2. ↑ "1996: Chrétien extends a 'Shawinigan handshake'". CBC News. Retrieved July 11, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Iggy learns to get a grip". Red Deer Advocate. Retrieved July 11, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Il y a 20 ans, le Shawinigan Handshake". Le Droit (in French). Archived from the original on November 18, 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Chretien Charged, Then Not". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 11, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Original 'Shawinigan handshake' victim not laughing at Chretien gag". Red Deer Advocate. Retrieved July 11, 2026.
  7. ↑ "The photographer who shot the 'Shawinigan handshake'". Toronto Star. Retrieved July 11, 2026.




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