Former dissident commissioner Renaud Lachance comes out of his reserve, seven years after having denied the existence of a link, even indirect, between the payment of a contribution to a provincial political party and the obtaining of a public contract of the Quebec state, a link at the heart of the report of the Charbonneau commission.
The Chartered Professional Accountant is confident that history proves him right, “until now,” anyway. “But there may be an element coming out in the future through other investigations,” he agreed in an interview with The duty Friday.
The report of the Construction Industry Inquiry Commission (CEIC) caused a stir when it was published on November 24, 2015: less for its 60 recommendations, more for the “disagreement” between the two commissioners — France Charbonneau and Renaud Lachance — on the existence of a link between the payment of a donation to a provincial political party and the obtaining of an engineering or construction contract from the Quebec government.
Mme Charbonneau discerned through the testimonies “a kind of more or less tacit pact united[ssant] the actors within this system where the payment of political contributions is rewarded by a certain number of contracts” — an indirect link — but not Mr. Lachance.
More than one commentator judged the dissidence of the former auditor general of Quebec (2004-2011) as “ostentatious”, “incomprehensible”, “inexplicable”, even “heartbreaking”. Solidarity MP Amir Khadir had criticized Renaud Lachance for “not [avoir] saw the elephant in the room that everyone watched while following the work of the Charbonneau commission”, even though he was sitting in the front row.
For Judge France Charbonneau, Mr. Lachance’s dissent is simply “unfortunate”.
“When you’re not telling people what they want to hear, you have to be sure of your position. Then, me, I don’t say what I don’t think, I don’t write what isn’t supported [par la preuve] “, Argued Renaud Lachance in a conference room of the To have to. “I did what I had to. »
Inconclusive investigations
The former commissioner is convinced of this, today more than ever, now that the investigations carried out by the Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit into the financing practices of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) — chew, Yoke and Ivy — have drawn a blank.
“Me, I would have liked very much that the trial of Mme [Nathalie] Normandeau takes place, ”says Renaud Lachance more than two years after the cessation of proceedings against the former Deputy Prime Minister, in particular.
The latter had been the subject of charges of fraud, conspiracy, corruption and breach of trust: “charges which mortgaged nearly five years of [la] life” of the former politician. “I was very curious to know the proof that [le Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales] had to accuse Mme Normandeau,” adds Mr. Lachance.
Over the past seven years, the Liberals, including former Quebec Premier Jean Charest, have repeatedly waved his dissent to push back against allegations of illicit financing strategies for the PLQ. “It didn’t surprise me,” said Renaud Lachance.
According to him, there is no doubt, however, that “those who obtained public contracts were solicited, even harassed, to make a political contribution”. “But they did not obtain a contract even indirectly thanks to this one”, he underlines in broad strokes in an open letter which he gave to the To have to.
The Quebec public administration prevented it, he said. In his eyes, pretending otherwise feeds “cynicism”, in addition to “encouraging[r] the denigration of Quebec”.
break the silence
Mr. Lachance says he imposed silence on himself all these years so as not to influence the course of police investigations and political activities, including the last campaign for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada, in which Jean Charest took part, This year.
“I am interested in politics, that is clear. But I don’t do partisan politics. I didn’t want to find myself quoted anywhere. So I was discreet, ”he says.
To the questions “Is he a liberal?” », « Is he an outcast? and “Has he asked for and is he waiting for an elevator return?” “, Renaud Lachance answers “no”, “no” and “no”, seven years after the end of the work of the Charbonneau commission. He assures that he had no political acquaintances… except at the turn of the 1980s, when he supported the efforts of the Parti Québécois, then led by Premier René Lévesque, which aimed to obtain a second term.
Expressions of impatience
Renaud Lachance now feels freed from his duty of discretion by judge France Charbonneau, with whom he maintained a relationship – “professional”, he repeats – for nearly four years, from the fall of 2011 to the autumn 2015. “We each did what we thought we had to do. And then, there is no animosity in my relationship between me and France or anyone else, “he explains, recalling that the 60 recommendations were not the subject of” no disagreement” between the two Commissioners.
Nevertheless, he reiterates that the decision not to appoint a replacement for Commissioner Roderick Macdonald, who died during the work of the commission, was a “mistake”. “If M.e Macdonald had been there, it would have been extremely different, ”he argues.
That said, he admits to having shown signs of impatience during the writing of the voluminous report, especially the parts on the Ministry of Transport and the financing of political parties, which gave him a hard time.
I’m interested in politics, that’s for sure. But I don’t do partisan politics. I didn’t want to find myself quoted anywhere. So I was discreet.
Occasionally, a writer would offer a “reinterpretation” of the testimony heard during the public hearings or build a “theory,” he says. “Sometimes it’s not even a summary of testimonies, it’s an opinion. […] Despite the notes, the text was not always corrected in subsequent versions. In the end, sometimes, I admit that I was a little, I would say, impatient, ”he admits, while emphasizing that “the work of a commission of inquiry” is “quite intense”.
If the Charbonneau commission found “nothing really serious at the provincial level”, it identified more than one “case of corruption and collusion” in the municipal world. The Autorité des marchés publics, set up by the Couillard government and then reinforced by the Legault government, following the recommendations of the Charbonneau commission, is keeping an eye on things, notes the professor at HEC Montréal with satisfaction.
More than a decade after the creation of the CEIC, “some” of its students ask it questions from time to time about the years of the Charbonneau commission (2011-2015). “Where I am most recognized is in funeral homes, because the elderly have followed the work of the commission a lot. […] They almost touch me [et me demander] : “Is it you ?” »