Quebec graft probe chief was ‘outraged’ by leaks
Lafrenière opens up about investigation that touches on activities of ex-premier
MONTREAL— Quebec’s anti-corruption police force is progressing steadily, though a bit more slowly, with an investigation that involves former premier Jean Charest, the head of the unit says.
Stung after a series of leaks and allegations that his provincial investigative team is dragging its heels and protecting its political masters, Robert Lafrenière, commissioner of the Unité Permanente Anti-Corruption, took the highly unusual step of opening up about the history of an ongoing corruption probe into the highest spheres of political power in Quebec.
While antithetical to routine procedure, the corruption czar said an explanation was nonetheless called for after internal documents were leaked to the media showing that Charest and former party fundraiser Marc Bibeau had been the subjects of police inquiries.
“I was outraged,” Lafrenière said of the leaks, which have resulted in a clampdown on information sharing among investigators and slowed down their work.
“The team and I have worked hard for six years to build something that has been recognized around the world . . . I hope we arrive at a conclusion and that we find the bandit who did it.”
Lafrenière told a parliamentary commission Thursday that an investigation that has touched on the activities of Charest and Bibeau, a wellconnected entrepreneur alleged to have pressured construction firms into making illegal political donations to the provincial Liberals, began in 2013. It came as a result of the findings in a separate investigation.
“I’m the one who launched the investigation in 2013,” said Lafrenière, who has led the anti-corruption unit since it was founded by Charest’s government in 2011.
As part of the probe, investigators have reportedly seized information about renovations to Charest’s Montreal home and obtained details of his travel outside of the country between 2003 and 2016.
But the delay in the probe is due to a court fight that began four years ago to get access to a computer database that was seized as part of the original investigation.
“A few weeks ago we put in place the process . . . to start going through this database because this database will bring us more information and allow us to tie up the investigation,” Lafrenière said.
He said the leak never put at risk the outcome of the investigation.
“If the person who did this thought they would destabilize us, it was nothing more than a distraction. You can be sure that I’m going to get to the end of this investigation . . . and file it with the Crown prosecutors.”
That could be bad news for the people targeted in the probe, but will take some heat off the anti-corruption unit and the current Liberal government, which has been trying to shake off the stink of corruption and has just a year left before it must seek re-election.
Public Safety Minister Martin Coiteux said the allegations of opposition parties in Quebec have undermined confidence in law enforcement and the government.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Let the police and the prosecutors do their work independently and free of political pressure. If people merit being charged, our justice system will catch them,” he told the parliamentary commission.
But the opposition Parti Québécois, which has questioned Lafrenière’s independence and argued his position should be elected by a two-thirds majority in the provincial legislature, didn’t seem convinced by the conclusion of the two-hour hearing.
“The Liberal Party currently forms the government. The minister is a member of the Liberal Party. The Liberal government is responsible for the anti-corruption unit. The anti-corruption unit is investigating the Liberal Party,” Pascal Berubé, the PQ’s public safety critic, said. “Those are facts.”