This Quebec Restaurant Removed “Poutine” From Its Menu In Solidarity With Ukraine

A Drummondville restaurant, Le Roy Jucep, which has prided itself as being the "inventor of the poutine," announced on their Facebook page on February 24 that they would officially be removing the word "poutine" from their menu and social media pages.

The post indicated that their decision to remove the word "poutine" was directly linked to the current crisis in Ukraine, who was invaded by Russia on Thursday.

The dish, which has become a staple in Quebec and throughout Canada, bears a similar name to that of Russian President Vladimir Putin — who has been criticized by many world leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, who condemned the Russian leader in a tweet issued on February 23.

Le Roy Jucep | Facebook

"Important! Changing of name. Dear clients and friends. This evening, the Jucep team has chosen to temporarily remove the word "p**tine" from its trademark in order to express, in its own way, its deep dismay at the situation in Ukraine. So, from now on, we are the inventor of cheese sauce fries. Thank you," the restaurant wrote.

The post was adorned with many comments applauding the restaurants decision to remove the word "poutine". However, things took a turn for the worst when Le Roy Jucep began receiving threats regarding the change – prompting the Quebec restaurant to remove their original post.

Le Roy Jucep | Facebook

"Following telephone threats from people convinced that we are agents of the "deep state" we have removed the original post. This isn't a marketing operation either, we don't need that to sell poutine," the restaurant wrote.

Le Roy Jucep made it clear that the well-being of their employees on the phone is a priority. They stated in the comment section of their most recent Facebook post that they had alerted Sûreté du Québec of the phone numbers of those that called threatening the restaurant.