(Quebec) Over the years, the public image of the Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit (UPAC) has been so tarnished that its boss is now willing to see it change its name, sporting a new branding to hope to regain the confidence of the population.
This was indicated on Tuesday by the Commissioner of UPAC, Frédérick Gaudreau, at a press conference, on the sidelines of the tabling of the annual report of the police force specifically responsible for combating all forms of corruption.
From the outset, Mr. Gaudreau recognized that “the step is high” to restore the image of his team, while showing confidence in being able to modify the perception of the population towards the police force, if we give him the time required to make any changes he deems necessary to ensure the correct operation of the unit.
Created ten years ago, should UPAC go so far as to change its name to improve its reputation? “It’s a question I ask myself every day,” agreed Mr. Gaudreau, who also says he is open to a new branding if parliamentarians deem it necessary, or even to “reframe” both the mandate and the mission of the police force.
Despite the disappointments and the many failures that have occurred in recent years, the important thing in his eyes is to maintain a specialized and autonomous police force to investigate fraud and corruption in the public sphere.
“Against all odds”, UPAC has a role to play, insisted Mr. Gaudreau.
In particular, the boss of UPAC did not want to elaborate on the Mâchurer investigation on the possibly illegal financing of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ), which dragged on without success for years, nor on the fact that very recently two UPAC sleuths had to be removed from their posts for their conduct in the case of the former mayor of Terrebonne Jean-Marc Robitaille, a situation which led to the termination of legal proceedings. In conclusion of another controversial file for years, in June, Mr. Gaudreau had publicly apologized to MP Guy Ouellette for his wrongful arrest in 2017.
He said he understood the impatience of people, many of whom wondered why certain investigations, such as Mâchurer, did not lead to charges after several years of work, but remained open despite everything.
In the case of Mâchurer, which has been the subject of numerous media leaks, he simply said that he was well aware that it was “the elephant in the room”, that the expectations for answers were high for this “extremely complex” survey. This is not the goal of stretching the deadlines, he said, refusing to set a limit or a deadline for reaching conclusions in this case.
When he took office in 2019, Mr. Gaudreau said that one of his objectives was precisely to regain the public’s trust, a bond of trust “which has crumbled over time.”
In the press scrum, the Minister of Public Security, Geneviève Guilbault, reacted to the words of the boss of UPAC by asking the unit to give more importance to communication with the public. Regarding the suggestion to change the name, the minister said that more attention should be paid to substance than form.
The head of the official opposition, Dominique Anglade, also reacted by believing that a name change would be a purely “cosmetic” gesture, calling for “much stronger gestures” to improve the functioning of the police force.