MNA Ouellette wins bid to quash UPAC search warrants
With two days before the general election, MNA Guy Ouellette has won a partial victory in his attempts to derail the investigation of him by UPAC, the province’s permanent anti-corruption squad, which suspects he is the source of leaks to the media of sensitive police information.
In light of new elements it has received, the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales (DPCP), Quebec’s crown prosecutors office, has decided not to contest the Liberal MNA’s request to invalidate the search warrants that had allowed the police to seize some of his belongings, notably his cellphone and computer.
UPAC officers had seized these items when the Chomedey MNA was arrested on Oct. 25, 2017.
Police have never had access to them, however, as they were placed under seal once the National Assembly invoked parliamentary privilege to protect them.
Ouellette will therefore be able to recover his property — and their contents can no longer be used as evidence by UPAC.
Given that the DPCP is not contesting the request, a Superior Court judge will have no choice but to grant it when the case is heard on Wednesday.
“Even if several details remain unclear, this is a great victory for parliamentary democracy,” Ouellette wrote on Facebook.
“Does this decision explain the attacks against me this week, whose motivations remain obscure? I salute the enthusiasm of Chomedey Liberals, who were not fooled by these ridiculous accusations. “
On the campaign trail Friday, Parti Québécois leader Jean-François Lisée said he wanted more information about why the DPCP is no longer fighting for the search warrants.
“Is it just new arguments or are there new facts, new evidence that make it so we’re not interested in a warrant anymore?” he asked.
“We’re missing pieces, the public is missing pieces, it’s of public interest, it’s of interest to the National Assembly.”
Liberal Party Leader Philippe Couillard said he would not comment on the decision of an independent body. But he would continue to support Ouellette, he said, adding that his candidate was loyal to the Liberal Party.
It was the second day in a row Couillard was forced to stand up for him.
On Wednesday, Ouellette was again accused of leaking information, this time to both the Coalition Avenir Québec and Québec solidaire, about Liberal Party organizer Pietro Perrino, who was recently named to head the Société québécoise du cannabis, the marijuana division of the Société des alcools du Québec.
The information, contained in emails from two different addresses belonging to Ouellette, were sent in 2016 and had nothing to do with UPAC. But they did embarrass Ouellette’s own party.
Both the CAQ and QS have confirmed receiving leaked information from Ouellette.
The emails apparently gave details about the Liberal government-backed investment fund on whose board Perrino sat. The fund was shut down after an investigation by the auditor general.
Ouellette said he couldn’t remember sending the emails in 2016, and suggested that UPAC could have hacked into his computer and sent them.
UPAC, for its part, declined to comment Friday on the DPCP’s decision not to fight for the search warrants.
It was another battle in the drawn-out war between Ouellette and UPAC.
Ouellette, himself a police officer for 30 years with the Sûreté du Québec before turning to politics, was believed to be the source of leaks to media about ongoing UPAC investigations.
Search warrants in the case that were unsealed in January cited various news reports concerning UPAC investigations and attempts to demonstrate how Ouellette and three other suspects could have been connected to them.
Several of the news stories detailed UPAC’s arrest of ex-deputy premier Nathalie Normandeau.
But when Ouellette was arrested in October, 2017, the National Assembly, dominated by the Liberal Party, came to his defence against UPAC.
Ouellette called his arrest and the seizure of his phone and computer a politically motivated “coup” against him as head of the institutions committee, which was seeking to bring more rigorous standards to UPAC.
It was not possible to determine from the police whether its investigation of Ouellette is ongoing.