MLA Guy Ouellette walks from a government caucus meeting at the legislature in Quebec City on Oct. 25, 2011.Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press
The Speaker of the Quebec National Assembly is demanding investigators either clear a member arrested on suspicion that he helped leak sensitive police information or lay charges against him, saying the integrity of democracy and justice are at stake.
In a rare speech that directly questioned police tactics and provoked a standing ovation from all sides of the assembly, Speaker Jacques Chagnon defended Guy Ouellette, a former police officer and 10-year member of the assembly, who was arrested on Oct. 25 and then released. The province's anti-corruption unit, the Unité permanente anticorruption (UPAC), said the MNA is suspected of obstruction of justice and breach of trust for helping leak information on the unit's investigations.
"It is intolerable that the police arrest a parliamentarian without charges being laid against him one week later," Mr. Chagnon said on Tuesday from his chair in the National Assembly. "A parliamentarian must have full freedom to do his work, whatever the subject in front of him or whatever he may pursue. This includes police work. He should be able to do it serenely and without worry."
Mr. Ouellette, a 20-year Sûreté du Québec police officer before he turned to politics in 2007, was forced to step away from the Liberal caucus and his role as chair of a committee that was reviewing legislation that would give UPAC and its head, Robert Lafrenière, more power and autonomy.
In the assembly on Tuesday, Mr. Ouellette said administrative irregularities at UPAC had recently come to his attention and his questions to the unit's bosses led them to try to take him down.
"It was an act of intimidation without precedent, I was the victim of a set-up by UPAC," Mr. Ouellette told the assembly. "The facts alleged against me are without foundation."
Mr. Lafrenière and two of his senior managers held a news conference to deny they framed or tried to intimidate Mr. Ouellette. His arrest was necessary to protect their investigation of leaks from within their unit, they said.
UPAC was conducting searches and meetings on Oct. 25, and no arrests were planned that day, said André Boulanger, director of operations at UPAC. One suspect provided information "far beyond our expectations. I authorized the arrest of [Mr. Ouellette] in order to prevent an infraction from being repeated," Mr. Boulanger said. "This was not impulsive or disorderly."
They did not explain how Mr. Ouellette, who was previously a police officer more than 20 years ago, could be responsible for police leaks, saying the release of such details could harm their investigation.
Mr. Ouellette did not spell out what police suspect him of doing, nor the UPAC irregularities he wanted to pursue. Earlier this week, his friend, former Transport Québec investigator Annie Trudel, publicly accused UPAC and the province's securities regulator of using a contracting approval process to funnel lucrative business to consultants.
The regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers, vehemently denied the allegation on Monday and UPAC followed on Tuesday. "Never, never, not my office, not the AMF, the accusation is shameful," said Marcel Forget, head of UPAC's integrity inspection unit.
Mr. Chagnon, a Liberal MNA who was unanimously voted Speaker by the assembly, said it is his job to defend MNAs from possible intimidation, the likes of which he has seen in other countries "but not here … I hope."
"Police forces must be held accountable to responsible politicians and the legislature, or we greatly increase the risk of drifting into totalitarianism," he said. "An MNA has lost an important role and his reputation has been harmed. We should demand clarity … either charges be laid, or apologies be made."
Mr. Lafrenière, the UPAC boss, promised neither. "It's our obligation to turn over every stone. The population expects nothing less," he said, adding he is certain charges will be eventually laid in the investigation but not necessarily against Mr. Ouellette, and not necessarily soon.
Premier Philippe Couillard made his own call for clarity from UPAC earlier in the day, calling recent events a "grave" set of circumstances.
"It's an exceptional situation we're living. An elected parliamentarian is put under arrest for unknown reasons. I don't like seeing that," Mr. Couillard said. At the end of the day, the reasons remained unclear.
Les Perreaux