Accused of sexual assault, the member for Rimouski, Harold LeBel, is back in the National Assembly.
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 October 2017.
On Wednesday, he rose in the House to comment on the speech on the 2022-2023 budget tabled by the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, the previous week. In his statement, he took up the defense of vulnerable seniors and notably called for the holding of a summit intended to take better care of them, in a context of accelerated aging of the population.
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 cannot be revealed, by order of the court. No information should allow him to be identified.
The 59-year-old is still awaiting trial, which is expected to take place this fall. He always proclaimed his innocence and chose a trial by judge and jury. He will be back in court on April 4 to find out when his trial will begin.
Expelled from the PQ caucus
A lifelong sovereignist activist, elected under the PQ banner in 2014 and re-elected in 2018, Mr. LeBel was expelled from the Parti Québécois (PQ) caucus by its leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon as soon as the accusation was made public. Since then, he has sat as an independent deputy, concentrating mainly on his work in the field, in his riding, far from the National Assembly.
He announced at the beginning of March that he would not be a candidate in the next elections on October 3, given that the electoral campaign is likely to take place at the same time as his trial.
“It also forces me to make the decision to give up my will to ask the population for a third term as Member of Parliament for Rimouski in the National Assembly, a function so precious to me, so dear to me. I will not be a candidate in the next general election in Quebec and that disappoints me deeply. I will be clear: there is no link between this decision and a potential presumption as to the outcome of this case, “he said on March 3, announcing, reluctantly, that he would put an end to his career. policy at the end of this mandate.
Nothing prevents an elected member from sitting in the National Assembly, even if he is the subject of criminal charges. Until the end of the parliamentary session on June 10, he will be entitled to three questions and one statement in the Chamber per cycle of 10 sittings.
He did not respond to an interview request.