Anti-corruption head wants independent force

Quebec’s anti-corruption unit should be turned into an independent police force so it can be more efficient with its investigations, the head of the squad said Monday.

Robert Lafrenière, who heads the unit known as UPAC, told a legislative committee in Quebec City the squad needs the same legal powers as other police forces.

“One of my ambitions is for UPAC to become a police force in itself,” Lafrenière said. “I think there is nothing better than to be as independent as possible.”

Lafrenière, who was appointed to a five-year term when the anti-corruption squad was created in 2011, also believes his mandate should be renewed when it expires in March to allow him an opportunity to see through the work he’s started.

The anti-corruption squad was formed after a series of high-level corruption and fraud allegations surfaced in the province involving municipal and provincial politicians, the construction sector and organized crime.

The unit’s work has led to about 150 arrests since 2011, including the high-profile arrests of several politicians including the ex-mayors of Montreal and neighbouring Laval.

Pascal Bérubé, a Parti Québécois member of the committee, said his party’s problem with the anti-corruption squad is the fact its head is named by the public security minister and not by a two-thirds majority of the provincial legislature, which is the case for other posts such as auditor general and chief electoral officer.

“It’s not normal that the government names the (head) investigator of a corruption squad who has as part of its mandate to look into corruption and the financing of political parties,” Bérubé said.

Lafrenière responded that the heads of other police forces in Quebec — such as in Montreal, Quebec City and the provincial police — are appointed by the governing party that oversees the force and “no one questions their independence.”

Bérubé also questioned the results yielded by the squad with a decline in the number of arrests in recent years.

Lafrenière, who heads a team of roughly 100 investigators, says one shouldn’t judge results based on arrest numbers.

He said the unit has made 23 arrests in 2015, which he calls a respectable number.