and the Prime Minister was formally charged by a judge in the Quebec Superior Court. These charges, however, were rejected by the Attorney General of Quebec. Aftermath and legacy In his 2007 autobiography, Chretien described his reaction to Clennett's approach as stemming in part from the trauma of the assassination attempt: "my reaction was instinctive and probably angrier than it would have been otherwise". Bill Clennett has since run for provincial office, standing as a Québec solidaire candidate in Hull in Quebec's 2007 and 2008 provincial elections. Bill Clennett and his team ranked third in 2008 after the Liberal Party of Quebec and the Parti Québécois, beating the Action démocratique du Québec, the Quebec Green Party, and the Independence Party. Poet Stuart Ross arranged the text of Chrétien's comments on the incident into the form of a poem, "Minor Altercation", published the day after the event. It has since been often reprinted, both in its original leaflet form as well as in books, newspapers and magazines. The epithet and incident remain enduring popular local lore in Shawinigan, decades after the incident. Following the incident, popular Canadian TV sports personality Don Cherry commented that he liked politicians being direct in this manner, and the performance of Chrétien in particular. Shawinigan microbrewery Trou du Diable has released an award-winning beer named "Shawinigan Handshake" with Prime Minister Jean Chrétien strangling Cherry on its label, in honour of the local lore. Since the incident, many celebrities and politicians have been jokingly held by Chrétien in the famous chokehold, when visiting him in Shawinigan. These include Cherry, politician Michael Ignatieff, comedian Rick Mercer, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The incident was referenced in a 2021 Beaverton article, which (humorously) claimed that Chrétien, age 87, had been hired as Justin Trudeau's bodyguard. In addition to supposedly putting a protester into the famous chokehold, he was also described as carrying a riot baton, crushing a rock into dust, and threatening to attack a protester "like I did with Justice Gomery". References External links CBC Archives 1996 in Quebec 1996 in Canadian politics Chokeholds Political scandals in Canada Political controversies in Canada Canadian political phrases Grappling positions Jean Chrétien History of Gatineau Political history of Canada