MNA suing attorney general over damaged reputation

Ex-Liberal claims he was target of ‘negligent’ plot

The MNA for Chomedey, Guy Ouellette, believes his reputation has been severely damaged and is suing the attorney general of Quebec for $550,000. He is asking for $250,000 for the loss of his reputation, $200,000 for moral damages and $100,000 for financial losses. In a statement of claim filed in Quebec Superior Court by his lawyer, Jacques Larochelle, Ouellette explains how he was lured by Quebec’s anti-corruption squad (UPAC). He says he was victimized by having his private communications intercepted and his phone, car and two residences searched. Then he was arrested, detained and interrogated for close to seven hours. “This operation, which was wrong and undeniably negligent, literally destroyed the plaintiff, his reputation, his political career, his relationship of trust with his political party and it has severely affected his health and happiness,” the statement reads. The MNA and former police officer was arrested Oct. 25, 2017, by UPAC, which suspected him of being the source of leaks of sensitive police information to the media. No charges have been laid against him. During the electoral campaign, the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales (DPCP) announced it would not appeal the motion to invalidate the search warrants that had allowed police to seize Ouellette’s phone and computer. The investigators never had access to these objects, however, as they were placed under seal as soon as the National Assembly invoked parliamentary privilege to protect them. According to Ouellette, UPAC investigators knew “they would get their hands on confidential information protected by parliamentary privilege,” but did not warn the judges who were asked to authorize the search warrants or take other precautionary measures. He also maintains the police “planned to commit a criminal act, in assuming another person’s identity,” by trying to pass for Richard Despatie, and as such contravened dispositions of the Criminal Code. In short, the plaintiff believes he was targeted “in a deceitful way” by UPAC. He is a victim of a plot, who was “presented to the public as a criminal” without ever receiving a public apology from UPAC, the statement of claim says. “The plaintiff was not and never was the media’s source: he was therefore wrongly arrested, without cause,” it continues. The 66-year-old sits as an independent member of the National Assembly. He was kicked out of the Quebec Liberal Party’s caucus a few days after the vote on Oct. 1.