The heavy political heritage of Jean Charest, marked by allegations of corruption, should rule him out of any return to politics, say opposition parties in Quebec.
The Parti Québécois (PQ) and Québec solidaire (QS) said on Tuesday that the former Quebec premier does not have the required record to claim the post of leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (PCC).
The duty reported last week that Mr. Charest is actively considering being a candidate to succeed Erin O’Toole, who left office two weeks ago.
PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon notably referred to the police investigation by the Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit (UPAC) into the financing of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ), still in progress, which notably targeted Mr. Charest.
“It speaks of the legacy that Jean Charest left in terms of the quality of our institutions, he said, regretting that no clear culprit has so far been designated. In a way, we have normalized corruption by trivializing it. Impunity in a democracy is the worst thing. »
Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon took care not to designate Mr. Charest as responsible for these abuses.
“If there is no punishment for that and we can return to politics afterwards, in Canada, it speaks of Canada and it is sad that we did not have a person responsible for such serious things. “, he said.
Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon believes, however, that “the politician was aware”.
“There were political gains in exchange for dubious contracts, so there is a political responsibility of people at the time in the Liberal Party, he said. Because the investigations were botched, we do not know whose responsibility. »
QS parliamentary leader Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois also argued that Mr. Charest’s record should keep him out of elected office.
“Jean Charest’s political legacy in Quebec is a democracy weakened by corruption and a territory devastated in terms of the environment,” he said.
Liberal leader Dominique Anglade remained more reserved about a possible candidacy of Mr. Charest.
“We are not here to assess Jean Charest’s record,” she said, stressing all the same that he was the first to form a joint council of ministers.
Ms. Anglade relied on the choice of voters.
“I am not going to insert myself in a leadership race for any political formation whatsoever. I think that Quebeckers and Canadians will be quite capable of making their decisions about that, ”she said.
More details will follow