Commission may find fault with Liberals

The Quebec Liberal Party has received a heads- up from the Charbonneau Commission that it may find fault with the party in its final report due in April, according to a report in Saturday’s La Presse.

The party was told that it may be blamed by the anti- corruption inquiry for having had questionable financing practices and for allowing situations that made MNAs and ministers vulnerable to undue pressure and being compromised, La Presse’s report said.

The provincial Liberals received notice via a bailiff on Tuesday; La Presse obtained the confidential document.

It lists eight points where the commission may find fault with the party, including: setting high fundraising goals for MNAs and ministers, making them vulnerable to excessive pressure and being compromised; allowing private meetings to be proposed with thenpremier Jean Charest in exchange for political donations; and allowing the close relationships between engineering firms or entrepreneurs and people associated with the Quebec Liberal Party, including MNAs, ministers, political attachés, cabinet members, fundraisers and party employees.

The notice to the Quebec Liberal Party from the commission’s head prosecutor, Sonia LeBel, also states that the party has a few avenues to respond if it wants, including at a public hearing, La Presse reported.

As of Saturday morning, the party hadn’t issued a statement on the matter. The Gazette confirmed independently through sources that the documents were received by the party.

The inquiry must alert anyone it intends to find fault with in its final report. The Charbonneau Commission hearings began in May 2012, and Justice France Charbonneau delivered her closing remarks last month.