Watching the watcher
The halls of power in Quebec City have been reeling this week on the news of the arrest of Liberal MNA and former anti-biker gang policeman Guy Ouellette by agents of Quebec’s ’Unité permanente anticorruption (UPAC). Ouellette is suspected of being behind a series of leaks to the Qubécor news organization alleging collusion among UPAC, the Quebec’s Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), and a firm of consultants to whom exorbitant contracts were granted.
Ouellette is a former Sûreté du Québec investigator who made his name during the infamous biker wars of the 1990s. He has been a vigorous advocate for anti-corruption legislation and has vigorously expressed reservations about the government’s Bill 107, which would expand UPAC’S powers and create essentially its own police force. As chairman of the government’s Institutions Committee, which overseas issues relating to public security and justice, Ouellette was in regular contact with UPAC head Robert Lafrenière, with whom he has had a longstanding dispute and who believes Ouellette is responsible for a series of leaks that question some of UPAC’S practices.
The arrest of Ouellette and the ‘cloakand-dagger’ method by which he was arrested have set tongues to wagging intensely in the National Assembly as even political opponents have sprung forward to defend Ouellette’s reputation and to add fuel to a fire of controversy already swirling around Lafrenière. Ouellette had been openly critical of Bill 107, which would greatly expand Lafrenière’s authority and independence, demanding that the government implement international standards for anti-corruption enforcement.
The entire scenario, coming as it does at a time when government ethics is under the spotlight, has shaken the Couillard government and provided speculative information for opposition parties to use in hammering the government.
As yet, it is not clear whether Ouellette is, in fact, responsible for the leaks suggesting UPAC impropriety or, as he suggests, the arrest is a power play by Lafrenière to discourage more political inquiries into how UPAC is run and functions. Complaints about the unit’s alleged ‘corruption’ have emerged from other ‘whistleblowers’ in the past.
Ouellette’s arrest is allegedly linked to a UPAC probe called Machurer, which looked into suspected illegal financing within the Liberal Party under former leader Jean Charest. UPAC has been investigating leaks from within its own organization.
In April, one such leak revealed UPAC had been investigating the comings and goings of ex-premier Charest and Liberal fundraiser Marc Bibeau until 2016.
A news organization had published emails dating from 2011 between Bibeau; Jean-louis Dufresne, the former chief of staff to Premier Philippe Couillard; and Hugo d’amour, a spokesperson for Charest, in which they discussed a contract to repair a Montreal-area bridge. Ouellette came out publicly in April to denounce the leak, which proved embarrassing to the Liberals. He said at the time that he was “disgusted by the situation, disgusted by all these leaks, disgusted by all these conflicts of interest.”
Ouellette has temporarily stepped aside pending the outcome of proceedings involving the province’s director of criminal and penal prosecutions. Ouellette, a former organized crime investigator-turned-politician, has represented the riding of Chomedey, north of Montreal, since 2007.
Annie Trudel, a well-known whistleblower and former Quebec transport ministry analyst who was arrested along with Ouellette, told the Journal de Montreal she was arrested on the same day as Ouellette, after being tailed by police.
Hired by former transport minister Robert Poeti to do some digging at the transport ministry, Trudel spoke out in June, claiming she had uncovered irregularities.
She also claimed that documents she had prepared were tampered with and that she had faced intimidation. On Monday, Quebecor media reported that Trudel is now alleging there's a system of collusion between UPAC, the AMF (Quebec's financial markets regulator) and a firm of private consultants. She said Ouellette was about to go public with the revelations, which is why he was arrested last week in connection with the leaked documents. Ouellette has denied being the source of the leaks and has, as yet, not been charged with any crime, despite his arrest.
Meanwhile, Quebec’s Auditor-general has been mandated to review the AMF'S process for approving government contracts and the government has said it would amend Bill 107 that establishes UPAC'S independence.
On Monday, the AMF issued a statement calling the allegations against it completely false and gratuitous and damaging to the reputation and integrity of its entire staff
UPAC’S work has frequently brought it into conflict with Quebec politicians and has particularly been a thorn in the side to the Quebec Liberal Party through its investigations into party financing and some have speculated that the current situation is a result of this conflict, but Ouellette’s sterling reputation as a corruption-fighter has certainly muddied the waters and cast suspicion on Lafrenière himself, particularly in light of the special powers Bill 107 confers upon the Unit he directs. It also throws a wrench into Quebec’s aggressive attempt to rid itself of what is perceived to be endemic corruption within the province’s political and business sectors.
The past week’s dramatic events will certainly be the subject of considerable more discussion as this story unfolds, with questions being posed concerning the integrity of both Ouellette and Lafrenière coming increasingly under the microscope. In the meantime, shadows are hanging over the heads of all involved. The importance of both the independence and the integrity of the anti-corruption unit cannot be overstated and all suggestions of impropriety at that level need to be investigated thoroughly as does the source of any unlawful leaks of information as to its inner workings.
At the moment, the controversy poses many more questions than it does answers, but this is a story that will have to play itself out to the end. Corruption has long been a drag on Quebec’s social and economic progress and, despite considerable effort by government to inject transparency into its operations, suspicion remains high. This is a mess that needs to be cleared up. The question, one supposes, is whether there remains anybody trusted and trustworthy enough to do it.