Alexandre Bissonnette

1. Port-Cartier Institution
   Dates unknown

The Quebec City mosque shooting (French: Attentat de la grande mosquée de Québec) was an attack by a single gunman on the evening of January 29, 2017, at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City, a mosque in the Sainte-Foy neighbourhood of Quebec City, Canada. Six worshippers were killed and five others seriously injured after evening prayers when the gunman entered the prayer hall shortly before 8:00 pm and opened fire for about two minutes with a semi-automatic pistol. Approximately 40 people were reported present at the time of the shooting. The French-Canadian shooter, 27-year-old Alexandre Bissonnette, pleaded guilty to six counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder. On February 8, 2019, Bissonnette was sentenced to life in prison, with no possibility of parole for 40 years. Upon appeal, the Court of Appeal of Quebec found 40 years without parole to be unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment, adjusting the sentence to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years. Quebec prosecutors sought to reinstate the original sentence with an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. The decision was upheld on May 27, 2022 in R v Bissonnette, meaning Bissonnette will be eligible for parole in 2042. The shooting prompted widespread discussion of anti-Muslim bigotry, racism, and right-wing terrorism in Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the shooting a terrorist attack, but Bissonnette was not charged with the terrorism provision of the Criminal Code. The decision not to charge Bissonnette with terrorism was criticized by Canadian Muslim groups. On the fourth anniversary of the attack, the Trudeau government announced plans to commemorate the day of the attack as The National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec Mosque Attack and of Action Against Islamophobia.