Minister Isabelle Charest believes that the commissioner of the QMJHL, Gilles Courteau, should again come and report to parliamentarians. The answers he has given so far about the degrading initiations that have occurred in his league are, according to her, unsatisfactory.
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A written statement sent to the media by her office indicates that the minister is “very open” to the idea that the QMJHL speaks again in a parliamentary committee.
According to our information, the CAQ deputies who are members of the commission are still in discussion on this subject.
The oppositions have been demanding for several days that Mr. Courteau appear again before the elected officials. During his first visit to the parliamentary committee, he affirmed under oath that no case reported to the league was similar to the violent acts described in a decision of the Superior Court of Ontario.
File photo, TOMA ICZKOVITS
A few minutes later, he clarified his remarks by stressing that there was “no sexual connotation” in the affidavit of the QMJHL player appearing in the class action. However, the testimony of this player demonstrates the opposite, as columnist Martin Leclerc pointed out in an article published Monday morning.
Then, in an interview with The newspaperMr. Courteau pleaded ignorance, maintaining that he had not read all the declarations before his passage in parliamentary committee.
After the hearings of February 22, the solidarity deputy Vincent Marissal had formally requested an extension of the mandate of the commission on violent initiations in the middle of junior hockey, but the government deputies who sat there had refused to follow up on this request. .
Minister Isabelle Charest then explained that the government had heard enough and that she now had enough information to improve the systems already in place, including the Permanent Complaints Officer.
But recent developments have changed the situation, and the minister has changed her tune.
It is up to the committee to determine whether Mr. Courteau will be reconvened or not.
Moreover, after Quebec Solidaire, the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) in turn demanded the resignation of the commissioner of the QMJHL, Gilles Courteau.