He launched the Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit (UPAC), he was the victim of the baseness of his immoral leadership and he is now reaping the tarnished fruits. The least we can say is that the story of disaffection between the former prime minister and the police force is all in shades of gray, an opaque gray that will never allow the full light of the truth to filter through.
Mr. Charest won a resounding victory in the Superior Court on Tuesday. For UPAC’s repeated leaks of the criminal investigation into him (54 in all), Judge Gregory Moore awarded him $35,000 in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages. In the Canadian judicial system, cautious and modest in the payment of punitive damages, this is a considerable sum testifying to the highest reprobation of the Court. The judge hopes the lesson will inspire other public bodies to be cautious in handling sensitive and confidential personal information.
Never mind the general dissuasive message. We won’t be seeing such a story anytime soon. There can be no subject more delicate, more spectacular and more sensitive than leaks at the top of the police apparatus on a criminal investigation targeting a former premier of Quebec. Members of UPAC had a great time pouring their equipment at the Montreal Journalwho produced a series of reports and a book.
The Attorney General of Quebec acknowledged, in two separate cases, including that of Mr. Charest, that the information leaked publicly came from a UPAC investigation file and that one of its members was at the origin of the leak.
Judge Moore does not reveal who did what; it was not his role. The Bureau of Independent Investigations (BEI) is carrying out an interminable and futile investigation into the origin of these leaks. According to information that has leaked in another related case, the BEI suspects the first commissioner of UPAC, Robert Lafrenière, and members of his bodyguard of being behind the leaks. The principal concerned denied the facts.
Judging by certain passages of Judge Moore’s decision, the BEI has quite a challenge to overcome in order to confirm its suspicions. Under the direction of Mr. Lafrenière, the UPAC was a sieve in the shape of a perforated basket. UPAC did not meet any standards for managing investigative documents. They could be viewed, printed or copied to a USB key in complete anonymity. There was no register of consultations or transfers, and therefore no possibility of identifying the authors of the leaks. Without credible witnesses within UPAC, the BEI therefore has little chance of success.
It’s a mess, to put it mildly. The investigation into Jean Charest and his volunteer fundraiser, Marc Bibeau (Schokbeton), is dead and buried. The new UPAC commissioner, Frédérick Gaudreau, made the announcement last year. Leaks have a lot to do with the slippage of this major investigation into the financing of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ), entitled chew. They compromised Jean Charest’s right to the presumption of innocence and damaged his reputation for eight years, an aberration in a society based on the rule of law.
Called to react to the judgment, Jean Charest complained of having suffered irreparable damage. He persists and signs his request for an apology. We do not remember having heard excuses from Jean Charest for the abusive recourse to sectoral financing from businesses, a practice prohibited by the Elections Act. Under his leadership, the QLP had become a fundraising machine, with demands so high that they placed the elected Liberals in a situation of vulnerability and dependence on construction and consulting engineering firms hoping to obtain contracts. public in return for their political contributions. The journalistic investigations conducted over the years and the work of the Charbonneau commission did not invent this problem, which also affected, to a lesser extent, the Parti Québécois and the now defunct Action Démocratique du Québec.
No commission of inquiry or trial has been able to establish a direct link between liberal funding and the awarding of public contracts. The Charbonneau commission concluded at most that there was an indirect link, with a dissidence from commissioner Renaud Lachance, which the Liberals took to heart.
Again on Wednesday, the interim leader of the PLQ, Marc Tanguay, claimed that the leaks had tarnished the liberal brand and harmed his chances in the last election. It’s strong in coffee. The fact remains that the indelible stain of uninhibited sector financing remains clearly visible on Jean Charest’s balance sheet. On the laborious path of reconstruction, the PLQ should bet more on introspection than on victimization if it wants to be taken seriously.