(Quebec) Former Premier Jean Charest is claiming more than $715,000 from the Quebec government in the affair of the information leaks at the Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit (UPAC) of which he was the victim.
This request by his lawyers, which was filed earlier this week in Superior Court, follows the judgment of the Superior Court which awarded him $385,000 in this same case at the beginning of April.
If he wins all the way, he will therefore get practically just over 1.1 million.
To justify their request, Mr. Charest’s lawyers claim that the Attorney General of Quebec used delaying tactics and abuse of process, in particular by delaying the delivery of documents.
“The Prosecutor abused the procedure in that the essence of his defense system was false, manifestly ill-founded and dilatory”, can we read in the originating application.
The Prosecutor would thus have shown “vexatious behavior towards the applicant and showed inexplicable relentlessness against him”.
Mr. Charest is claiming more than $200,000 in punitive damages. He is also demanding $512,000 to pay his lawyers’ fees, as well as $5,000 in moral damages.
The amount thus totals $717,000.
Recall that in his decision handed down at the beginning of April, Judge Gregory Moore condemned the Quebec state to pay $385,000 to Mr. Charest for illegally disclosing personal information.
The former prime minister was indeed suing the Quebec state after details of the Mâchurer investigation – about the financing of the Liberal Party of Quebec – of UPAC were transmitted to the media in 2017.
But in his decision, Judge Moore also authorized the plaintiff to file an additional claim for abuse of process to obtain additional compensation, hence the claim filed this week.
Recall of facts
Let’s remember the facts. In April 2014, the UPAC undertook the Mâchurer investigation, on the sectoral financing led by the Liberal Party of Quebec when it was led by Mr. Charest.
Three years later, in 2017, the Journal de Montréal published documents held by UPAC.
They reveal in particular that Mr. Charest was under police surveillance and that the UPAC sought to obtain his communications with Marc Bibeau, presented as the great fundraiser of the PLQ at the time when Mr. Charest led it.
The UPAC also wanted to know the comings and goings at the borders of the two men. In these documents, the UPAC said it was investigating corruption and breach of trust, two criminal offenses.
Personal information about Mr. Charest was also passed on to the Journal de Montréal.
The Commissioner of UPAC confirmed that a member of his organization was responsible for the leak and that an administrative investigation was launched to determine the origin. The Attorney General of Quebec has confirmed that a member of UPAC is at the origin of the leak, recall the lawyers of Mr. Charest.
Given the seriousness of the matter, the Ministry of Public Security in 2018 asked the Bureau of Independent Investigations (BEI) to shed light on the leaks.
He noted a total of 37 leaks to the media between 2012 and 2018. But later, the BEI investigator revised the number of leaks upwards to 54.
Mr. Charest was not charged in the context of the Machûrer investigation, where he was mentioned as a “person of interest”, but he felt that the disclosure of information had tarnished his reputation.
Judge Moore therefore agreed with him by awarding him $385,000.