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Appeals from police and Crown prosecutors that the justice system alone cannot unravel allegations of corruption and price rigging in government construction contracts have failed to persuade Premier Jean Charest to call a public inquiry.

Mr. Charest yesterday remained adamant in his refusal to bend to public pressure, saying that his government believes police investigations are sufficient.

"The government prioritizes police investigations and all that is needed to get to the bottom of things," Mr. Charest told the National Assembly yesterday in response to repeated Parti Québécois demands for a public inquiry.

On Monday, the president of the Association of the Quebec Provincial Police, Jean-Guy Dagenais, said the Sûreté du Québec is limited in what it can do. After the rare admission that police might be unable to achieve what was expected, he added that a public inquiry would be the only way to change how corrupt elements in the construction industry manipulate government contracts.

"With a public inquiry, more people will be required to explain their actions," Mr. Dagenais said.

Yesterday, the province's Crown prosecutors made a similar claim, warning that if the government continues to reject calls for a public inquiry, the public would lose faith in the justice system.

"You can arrest and bring individuals to trial, but that won't allow you to get to the bottom of how the system of price-rigging and collusion operated," said Thomas Jacques, vice-president of the Quebec Association of Criminal Prosecutors. "Last week, the provincial auditor's report unveiled a case of collusion that dated back to 2004. Only a public inquiry can go that far back and investigate how the system [of price-rigging] was set up and evolved over time."

Both the police and the prosecutors noted that the existence of a federal commission of inquiry into the scandal involving Liberal- friendly advertising companies in Quebec didn't stop criminal investigations while the hearings were being conducted. The Charest government's closest ally to date in rejecting a public inquiry has been the Quebec Federation of Labour construction unions.

"Sometimes a public inquiry doesn't always unveil the truth. It's used to entertain, to create a show and then act in a concerted way," said the director general of the QFL-construction unions, Richard Goyette. 'Let's wait and see what the police investigations uncover."

When told that the police association wanted a public inquiry, Mr. Goyette questioned the police union's motives. "Was it the police union or the police who asked for [an inquiry]? I believe more in the police than their union does," Mr. Goyette said.

The opposition accused the government of wanting to keep under wraps a system that has largely benefited the Quebec Liberal party by protecting rich contractors who contributed to the party's coffers.

The calls for an inquiry have widespread public support, and the opposition said it will continue to demand a public inquiry even after the fall session ends next week.