EX-PQ leader Boisclair faces sex assault charges
Offences alleged by Crown to have occurred in Montreal on Jan. 8, 2014
André Boisclair, the former head of the Parti Québécois, faces charges of armed sexual assault at the Montreal courthouse.
The former PQ cabinet minister faces two charges in connection with a Montreal police investigation and the charges involve offences alleged to have occurred in Montreal on Jan. 8, 2014.
Boisclair is accused in a warrant that does not require that he be arrested. Instead, the 54-yearold will be provided with a date on which he is expected to appear in court.
The charge sheet was made public Thursday afternoon at the Montreal courthouse.
Boisclair is charged with having sexually assaulted a person, identified only by their initials, with the participation of a third person who is not named on the charge sheet.
The former politician is also charged with using a weapon to commit a sexual assault — a charge that carries a maximum 14-year sentence upon conviction.
Boisclair left politics several years ago. Most recently, in 2016, he was named president and CEO of the Urban Development Institute of Quebec, the voice of the province’s commercial real estate industry. According to a spokesperson for the institute, Boisclair resigned from the position on Thursday. The spokesperson said the institute would make no comment on the charges Boisclair faces.
Boisclair has a criminal record after convictions in the past on much less serious charges. On Feb. 15, 2018, he pleaded guilty to two impaired driving-related charges and obstructing justice. The charges involved how he crashed his car into a lamp post in Quebec City in November 2017. He was arrested and refused to take a breathalyzer test at a police station, where he also tried to intimidate police officers.
When Boisclair pleaded guilty, he was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine as a sentence for the impaired driving convictions and he received an unconditional discharge as a sentence for obstructing justice.
Boisclair was first elected as an MNA in 1989 when he ran for the Parti Québécois in the Gouin riding. His ascent in the party began when Lucien Bouchard was premier, and in 1996 Boisclair was named immigration minister. Boisclair handled other cabinet posts afterward, including environment minister in 2001, while Bernard Landry was premier. The relationship between the two politicians eventually soured and Boisclair ended up resigning his seat in 2004.
Boisclair returned to politics the following year and was elected as PQ leader on Nov. 15, 2005, despite admitting during the leadership campaign that he used cocaine when he was an MNA and when he was a cabinet minister. Boisclair’s political career quickly began to nosedive after he was elected leader as he ended up clashing with several fellow PQ politicians. His brief stint as leader came to an end in May 2007, when Boisclair faced a mutiny that caused him to resign as leader and later from his seat as an MNA in November of the same year.
The Montreal Gazette was unable to reach Boisclair for comment on Thursday. According to TVA, he shut down his social media pages on Thursday.