Que. politicians uneasy after shocking arrest
Anti-corruption police squad insists decision to detain Ouellette was unavoidable
MONTREAL— The anti-corruption officer who authorized the shocking arrest of Quebec politician Guy Ouellette last week said it was an unplanned and “exceptional circumstance” taken to preserve evidence in a crucial case.
André Boulanger, director of operations for the Unité permanente anticorruption, or UPAC, said that no arrests were expected in an operation probing the leak of confidential police documents, but taking the politician into custody was unavoidable.
“I authorized the arrest of one suspect in order to prevent the infraction from being repeated and to preserve crucial elements of proof for the continuation of the investigation,” he told reporters Tuesday in Montreal.
The rare comments on an ongoing criminal investigation come after sharp criticism and condemnation of Quebec’s anti-corruption police squad in the provincial legislature.
The matter is of the utmost political sensitivity given that the leaked police files splashed on the front pages of the Journal de Montréal earlier this year concerned an ongoing investigation into former Quebec premier Jean Charest and the political financing activities of the provincial Liberal party.
Ouellette told members of the National Assembly that his arrest was “an unprecedented attempt at intimidation” resulting from his demands that the unit be more accountable to politicians.
“I am the victim of a frame-up,” he said. “I was, I am and I will be always an ardent defender of social justice, democratic values, freedom of speech and the truth.”
Both Ouellette and Boulanger have now revealed that the politician was surreptitiously contacted and drawn to the place where he was arrested by UPAC investigators using the telephone of another suspect.
Ouellette has classified this as a “trap” while the police say it is justified investigative technique.
Ouellette, who was elected as a member of the Quebec Liberal Party but sits now as an independent member, received the solid support of politicians from all parties, as well as the Speaker of the legislature, Jacques Chagnon. “I think we have to insist that there be clarity established in this situation urgently — that accusations are filed or an apology is made,” he said.
Chagnon also echoed concerns that the arrest of an elected official would have a chilling effect on Ouellette’s legislative colleagues.
Among the theories that have been forwarded for Ouellette’s arrest are that he was planning to introduce legislation that would demand greater accountability from UPAC and that he was investigating allegations of collusion between members of the force and private consultants.