Timeline of events leading up to publication of the report
Four years after it began, the Charbonneau Commission examining collusion and corruption in the Quebec construction industry released its report Tuesday.
Here’s an explanation of the who, what, when, where and why of the commission.
When the calls for a public inquiry into corruption began: 2009
The year 2009 began with revelations that FTQ construction union officials and provincial cabinet ministers vacationed on construction magnate Tony Accurso’s luxury yacht, The Touch, with whistleblower union official Ken Pereira telling Radio-Canada about FTQ-Construction executive director Jocelyn Dupuis’s expensive lunch tab. The union leader claimed $125,000 in expenses on restaurants and alcohol in six months.
Then, an opposition councillor revealed in Montreal city council in April 2009 that even former city executive committee chairman Frank Zampino had vacationed on Accurso’s yacht, and did so during the period that one of Accurso’s firms was part of a consortium bidding on the largest municipal contract in Montreal history, the $355.8-million water-management contract. The consortium, Génieau, won the contract in 2007. The calls for Quebec premier Jean Charest to set up a commission of inquiry grew louder.
When the government announced the creation of the commission: October 2011
Charest announced the creation of a commission, by cabinet decree, to probe the awarding and management of public contracts in the construction industry stretching back 15 years (i.e. to 1996, when the Parti Québécois was in power). But because the commission was created by cabinet decree and not under Quebec’s public inquiries act, the commission did not have the power to subpoena witnesses and compel testimony from them in exchange for immunity from criminal charges.
However, within a few weeks and after much criticism, the Charest government granted the Charbonneau commission full powers under the public inquiries act so the investigation would be fully independent. Charest explained that he had wanted to protect the evidence that police had gathered in various investigations by initially giving the commission limited powers. But experts assured that a full public inquiry would not interfere with police work.
The commission was given a mandate to 1) examine the existence of schemes involving collusion and corruption in the awarding of public construction contracts, and the possibility of links to political party financing; 2) outline how organized crime may have infiltrated the construction industry; and 3) examine solutions and make recommendations on how to detect and prevent collusion and corruption in the awarding and management of public construction contracts and infiltration of the industry by organized crime.
When the commission got its extension
The commission was granted two extensions from its original deadline of Oct. 20, 2013. In March 2013, it was given an extension to April 19, 2015. After the hearings were over, the commission requested and obtained a second extension in February 2015, giving it to Nov. 30, 2015 to submit its report to the government.
When the public hearings ended: November 2014
The Charbonneau commission switched off the cameras that had broadcast its proceedings live after 261 days of hearings, 189 factual witnesses (people who saw or heard what was going on) and nearly 300 witnesses when experts and public consultations are also included.
Who gets a copy of the commission’s report: the public, at the same time as the government
The commission’s mandate called for it to submit its report to the premier’s office. In a statement on Monday, the commission said that it advised the Quebec government that it would be ready to submit its report on Tuesday, six days before its Nov. 30 deadline. The government, it said, asked the commission to make the report public that day.