(Québec) La députée Marie Montpetit est exclue pour de bon du caucus libéral en raison d’allégations de harcèlement psychologique, peu importe les résultats d’une future enquête, dit la cheffe Dominique Anglade. Mme Montpetit ne pourra donc pas porter les couleurs du PLQ lors des élections générales de 2022.
« Avec la quantité d’informations que j’ai aujourd’hui, avec les faits qui m’ont été présentés, je ne vois pas de quelle manière [une réintégration au caucus] would happen. That’s what I can tell you, ”explained Mme Anglade during a press briefing Tuesday at the National Assembly.
” [Lundi], we had additional information which led me to take the decision to exclude Marie Montpetit from our Liberal caucus, ”she added. “It was the only decision to be made, it was the only decision that was needed in a context where today, we are in 2021 and we cannot tolerate certain behaviors with colleagues, with employees”.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Dominique anglade
Press revealed on Monday that Mme Anglade had received a written complaint of psychological harassment against Mr.me Montpetit, and was made aware of similar allegations made about it. Press also collected the testimonies of four people alleging that Marie Montpetit psychologically harassed them while she was sitting in the opposition, or when she was Minister of Culture and Communications at the end of the mandate of the Couillard government.
A source also confirmed that the PLQ authorities have been informed in recent months of reprehensible behavior and unacceptable words on the part of the deputy towards political personnel.
Mme Did Anglade take long to act? She denies it. “Every time we had information, we took action,” she said.
Acceleration
The Liberal leader repeats that she has “never” taken harassment issues lightly, but that the situation has changed in recent days. It was rife on Monday following an “acceleration in the information which [lui] have been reported ”. The day before, during an interview at Press, a few hours before making the decision to exclude Mr.me Montpetit of the liberal caucus, Dominique Anglade affirmed that she received “every hour” additional information concerning the member for Maurice-Richard and that “the situation was extremely serious”.
Mme Anglade has also postponed a regional tour in Gaspésie and moved a trip to the Magdalen Islands. She found it “important” to be in parliament on Tuesday and Wednesday with her caucus.
During her press briefing, she was accompanied by the former interim leader Pierre Arcand, who led the party between the departure of Philippe Couillard, after the general elections of 2018, and the arrival of Dominique Anglade at the head of the left in 2020. Mr. Arcand says he did not know anything about the situation at the time. “We were in a period when there were policies in the National Assembly that existed, there was also the policy, with us, of zero harassment. Me, I had regular meetings with the officers of my political formation and I did not hear, at the time, a complaint about Mr.me Montpetit, ”he said.
Mr. Arcand says he first heard of the harassment allegations against Mr.me Montpetit this week.