MNA arrest: What is the leak under investigation?
A longtime Liberal member of the Quebec legislature stepped away from the party on Thursday following his arrest by the province’s anti-corruption unit.
Guy Ouellette, 65, was arrested in connection with an investigation by the unit, known as UPAC, into an important information leak to the media last April, a government source told The Canadian Press.
In a statement, the Liberals said Ouellette would step aside temporarily pending the outcome of proceedings involving the province’s director of criminal and penal prosecutions. Ouellette, a former organized crime investigator-turned-politician, has represented the riding of Chomedey, north of Montreal, since 2007.
The anti-corruption unit explained it executed six warrants in an investigation targeting breach of trust and obstruction of justice.
The unit said officers made an arrest “to secure evidence and to prevent the offences from continuing or recurring.”
UPAC said it wouldn’t identify anyone implicated because no charges have yet been filed.
Ouellette’s arrest is allegedly linked to a UPAC probe called Machurer, which looked into suspected illegal financing within the Liberal Party under former leader Jean Charest.
UPAC has been investigating leaks from within its own organization.
A leak last April revealed UPAC had been investigating the comings and goings of ex-premier Charest and Liberal fundraiser Marc Bibeau until 2016.
A news organization had published emails dating from 2011 between Bibeau; Jean-Louis Dufresne, the former chief of staff to Premier Philippe Couillard; and Hugo d’Amour, a spokesperson for Charest and in which they discussed a contract to repair a Montreal-area bridge.
Ouellette came out publicly in April to denounce the major information leak, which proved embarrassing to the Liberals.
He said at the time he was “disgusted by the situation, disgusted by all these leaks, disgusted by all these conflicts of interest.”
Ouellette was head of the legislature committee that recently held hearings into the leaks.