A small group of members of the National Assembly will know on Monday the identity of the candidate proposed by the government to succeed Martin Prud’homme as director general of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), learned The duty.
On Tuesday, this person will be interviewed by a committee made up of these elected officials, said two confidential sources who preferred not to be named because they are not authorized to speak publicly on the subject.
The Police Act provides that this committee is made up of elected representatives from each “authorized party represented in the National Assembly”. According to the information obtained, Alexandre Leduc, from Québec solidaire, Jean Rousselle, from the Liberal Party of Quebec and Martin Ouellet, from the Parti Québécois, will represent the opposition.
The government will be represented by the Minister of Public Security, Geneviève Guilbault.
Following the interview scheduled for Tuesday, members of the elected committee will have up to 15 days to present their report on the candidacy.
This validation step must be used to establish whether the possible proposal of this person, whose identity must remain confidential in the meantime, would receive the support of at least two-thirds of Quebec elected officials in the National Assembly.
The deadline for applications for the post of general manager of the SQ was set for October 18. The mandate is for a period of seven years, not renewable. The salary can vary between $ 176,992 and $ 253,100.
New procedure
In May 2019, the Caquista government passed a law modifying the process for appointing the anti-corruption commissioner, the director of criminal and penal prosecutions and the director general of the Sûreté du Québec.
Until then, their appointment was the sole responsibility of the government. The new procedure now provides that it falls under the National Assembly, on the proposal of the Prime Minister. The objective was to depoliticize these appointments.
Frédérick Gaudreau, Commissioner of the Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit, and Patrick Michel, Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions, have since been appointed according to this new procedure.
The next general manager of the SQ will be the first to be appointed under this approach.
Suspended from his duties since March 2019, Martin Prud’homme announced in August that he was retiring after reaching a confidential agreement with the government. At the same time, the government announced the withdrawal of a request for an ethics inquiry from the Civil Service Commission against Mr. Prud’homme.
The involvement of elected officials this week comes at the very end of the process. The Police Act provides that a selection committee is first formed by the minister, including the Deputy Minister of Public Security.
The names of at least two finalists are then submitted to the Minister. The Prime Minister’s proposal must be made on the basis of this preselection of candidates.