MNA’s arrest ‘intolerable,’ Quebec speaker says
Warns legislature of ‘slide into totalitarianism’
MONTREAL • The crisis enveloping Quebec’ s anti- corruption police following last week’s arrest of a National Assembly member deepened Tuesday as the Speaker of the legislature warned of a threat to democracy.
Addressing the legislature concerning the arrest without charges of Guy Ouellette, Speaker Jacques Chagnon called the situation “intolerable” and said he has not seen anything like it in his 32 years in politics.
“A parliamentarian must enjoy the full freedom to do his job, whatever subject of interest he is pursuing, including the work of the police. He must be able to do it calmly and with peace of mind,” Chagnon said. “Police forces must be accountable to the responsible politicians and to the legislature; if not, the risks of a slide into totalitarianism increase greatly.”
Ouellette has said his arrest was an attempt to silence him by the anti- corruption squad, known by its French acronym UPAC. Appearing in the legislature for the first time since his arrest last Wednesday, Ouellette called the UPAC operation a “frameup” aimed at preventing him from looking into “irregularities” in UPAC’s operations.
“Pre venting members of the National Assembly from exercising the mandate given them by the population is an extremely serious attack on the democratic process,” he said, saying he had been drawn into a “trap” by investigators.
“Society cannot allow anyone to take the place of the legislative power by trying to unduly intimidate those designated by the public to represent them,” said Ouellette, who was a provincial police officer before entering politics. He said the police suspicions of him are unfounded.
Elected as a Liberal but sitting as an independent since his arrest, he received an ovation from his fellow legislators, and all parties offered their support.
But after being invited by Premier Philippe Couillard to give “as many details as possible” about Ouellette’s arrest, UPAC commissioner Robert Lafrenière called a late afternoon news conference to reject Ouellette’s accusations.
Lafrenière said the operation last Wednesday was part of a criminal investigation that had identified a UPAC member as the suspected source of a media leak last April of information from an investigation into former premier Jean Charest and Quebec Liberal Party fundraising.
André Boulanger, UPAC’s director of operations, said there was no trap set for Ouellette, just a “bait, an integrity test.” No arrests had been planned, but when Ouellette took the bait — reportedly a text message from a source — more energetically than anticipated, Boulanger decided to arrest him.
The decision was made, he said, to prevent further infractions from being committed and to “preserve evidence crucial to the continuation of the investigation.”
Boulanger s aid Ouellette has exaggerated the length of his detention and imagined that he was being followed by police after his release. He denied that the arrest was tied to a concern that Ouellette had dug up dirt on UPAC or was demanding greater accountability of the squad.
Despite t he call f rom Quebec City for UPAC to lay charges or apologize, Bou- langer said he would not be rushed. He said the investigation would involve many interviews in the coming months, “some of which may raise questions.”
Lafrenière said the leak- ing of evidence is an “extremely serious” offence that could sabotage an ongoing investigation by tipping off suspects. And he said UPAC has nothing to apologize for as a result of last week’s operation. “I am absolutely certain that there was no breach on the part of UPAC,” he said.