(Quebec) Accused of sexual assault, the member for Rimouski, Harold LeBel, is back in the National Assembly.
Posted at 12:43 p.m.
He had not set foot in parliament since mid-December 2020, when we learned that he was facing a charge of sexual assault, in relation to events that occurred in 2017.
On Wednesday, he rose in the House to comment on the budget speech tabled by the Minister of Finance the previous week. In his statement, he stood up for seniors and called for a summit to take better care of them.
He was arrested by the Sûreté du Québec on December 15, 2020, and then charged with sexual assault. Like him, the alleged victim worked in politics, but his identity could not be revealed. The 59-year-old is still awaiting trial, which is expected to take place this fall. He proclaims his innocence and chose a trial by judge and jury.
Elected under the PQ banner in 2014 and re-elected in 2018, Mr. LeBel was ousted from the Parti Québécois caucus by its leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon as soon as the accusation was made public. Since then, he has sat as an independent MP, concentrating mainly on his work in his constituency.
He announced at the beginning of March that he would not be a candidate in the next elections, given that the electoral campaign is likely to take place at the same time as his trial.