Couillard denies misleading on ejection
Couillard under fire for handling of Paradis’s ejection from cabinet
QUEBEC Premier Philippe Couillard denies having misled Quebecers about the circumstances surrounding Pierre Paradis’s ejection from cabinet and the Liberal caucus.
Paradis was rushed to a Montreal hospital on Friday to treat complications from a concussion he suffered while horseback riding.
He told reporters this week the concussion was the reason he was stepping down temporarily from his functions.
But on Friday, Couillard set the record straight. He said Paradis was sidelined because of a complaint lodged against him.
“The concussion, we didn’t talk about it — Mr. Paradis did,” he told a throng of reporters.
“Yes, apparently Mr. Paradis had an accident and is being medically treated for this reason,” the premier added.
“But I want to be very clear: the reason we asked him Wednesday to leave his cabinet duties, it’s not for that reason.
“It’s because that day we received a letter from a person who wanted to be heard, and we were in an environment that was new.”
Asked why he never corrected Paradis’s version, the premier said: “It was up to him to do it.”
Police have since confirmed they have opened a formal investigation into Paradis, which prompted the premier late Thursday to expel him from cabinet and the Liberal caucus.
The Montreal Gazette has learned that the investigation centres on an allegation, levelled by one of Paradis’s employees, of inappropriate sexual gestures.
Couillard said he was informed of the letter, but refused to divulge its content, saying only that he was “saddened” by what he heard.
He said his thoughts are with the alleged victim, but also with Paradis, who, he said, hasn’t been charged with an offence and should be presumed innocent.
In Quebec City, PQ MNA Agnès Maltais said she was “shaken” by the allegations, and said it took “a lot of courage” for the alleged victim to file a complaint against a minister, someone with a significant amount of power.
She blamed Couillard for being
“the opposite of transparent.”
“People have the right to know exactly what happened . ... It’s clear the premier has not been transparent in the past few days, that he tried to either spare his minister or the government,” Maltais said.
Coalition Avenir Québec MNA Nathalie Roy said in a statement that the premier’s office probably found it helpful that “the media was reporting that a riding accident was the cause of Mr. Paradis’s departure.”
“Is this an attempt at a coverup?” she asked.
Paradis is the second MNA to be investigated by police in less than four months. The director of penal and criminal prosecutions (DPCP) is currently reviewing the case involving an allegation against Gerry Sklavounos.
The Montreal-area MNA was kicked out of the Liberal caucus in October, following Alice Paquet’s allegations he sexually assaulted her at a restaurant where she worked as a hostess.
Prosecutors are in the process of deciding whether they have evidence to lay charges against Sklavounos, who has maintained his innocence.
“What is this government?” Maltais asked.
“For two years now, we’ve been going from crisis to crisis and we’re beginning another session with a minister who is in trouble. It’s an old government.”
Paradis, 66, is MNA for the Eastern Townships riding of Brome-Missisquoi and had been Quebec’s agriculture minister. Transport Minister Laurent Lessard is taking over the agriculture portfolio.
Paradis was first elected as a Liberal MNA in 1980.
In 1983, he unsuccessfully ran for the Liberal leadership, losing to Robert Bourassa.
Under former premier Bourassa, Paradis held the environment, municipal affairs and labour portfolios.
Apparently Mr. Paradis had an accident ... But I want to be very clear: the reason we asked him Wednesday to leave his cabinet duties, it’s not for that reason.