Quebec’s corruption squad fails to attract new blood

MONTREAL — Seven years after it was created, Quebec’s anticorruption unit is having difficulty recruiting members and filling a number of positions.

Frederick Gaudreau, the interim head of the agency known by its French acronym, UPAC, admits unflattering coverage in the media hasn’t helped.

“Yes, it’s a reason, I don’t want to deny it,” Gaudreau said at a recent news conference during the presentation of the unit’s annual report.

“I won’t hide from you that it’s a challenge to recruit people.”

The report also revealed that there was a 30 per cent rate of voluntary departures among permanent employees at UPAC.

The unit, which has about 350 employees, was created by former premier Jean Charest in 2011 amid allegations of corruption in Quebec’s construction industry and the alleged illegal financing of political parties.

Gaudreau recently took over as the unit’s director after his predecessor, Robert Lafreniere, tendered his resignation on Oct. 1 — the day of the last provincial election.

No reason was given for Lafreniere’s decision to step down. He had been at the head of the unit since it was created.

He was reconfirmed in the job in 2016 and his mandate was supposed to end in 2021.

Documents leaked to the press also showed UPAC has for years been investigating Charest and Liberal party treasurer Marc Bibeau on illegal electoral financing suspicions.

No arrests have been made in either investigation and Charest has denied any wrongdoing.

Gaudreau said about a dozen positions for investigators and several support staff positions now need to be filled.