Repeated charges of corruption against Quebec Liberals have angered Premier Jean Charest, who vows to fight back against his critics in order to defend his government's integrity.
Mr. Charest said he was "offended" and "insulted" by remarks made on Saturday by Action Démocratique du Québec Leader Gérard Deltell, in which the Premier was described as "the godfather of the Liberal family."
Mr. Deltell was referring to alleged ties between organized crime and construction entrepreneurs who were reported to be close to the Quebec Liberal Party.
"I don't like it. I'm offended by it," Mr. Charest said in a news conference on Sunday at the conclusion of a weekend party meeting. "But you know what? If anyone thinks they can intimidate me by this kind of tactic, they are totally wrong. Rather than say I don't like politics, I am committed to rising above it and fighting back. If anyone thinks this kind of a tactic is going to discourage me or my party from practising politics, they are wrong."
Mr. Charest has often repeated that he and his party were the victims of unfounded allegations involving favouritism and unethical fundraising practices. On Sunday, he invited Quebeckers to ignore the opposition's "smear campaign" and set their sights instead on the province's economic priorities.
"There are limits to saying just anything. Freedom of speech … isn't a licence that gives you the right to sully your opponent's reputation," Mr. Charest told 600 party delegates, who gave him a standing ovation. "I am proposing to Quebeckers another way of practising politics. … I am proposing a new era of prosperity for those who want to join us in looking forward."
Even though several public opinion polls have showed that the vast majority of Quebeckers support the holding of a public inquiry into allegations of corruption in the construction industry, Liberals stood firmly behind their leader's adamant refusal to call one.
When delegate Martin Drapeau proposed that the party debate the need to hold a public inquiry, not a single delegate in the room seconded his motion.
Mr. Drapeau, an environmentalist, explained that in his town of Boisbriand, just north of Montreal, he was hit with a $250,000 lawsuit by a construction entrepreneur after asking the Ministry of Municipal Affairs to investigate the possible rigging of a multimillion-dollar city water-treatment project. An investigation was never conducted, he said.
"Citizens need to be protected," Mr. Drapeau told reporters on Sunday. "…The only way to stop this kind of thing is to expose it through a public inquiry."
However, Mr. Charest insisted that police investigations were just as efficient. He reiterated that his government has set up a special investigative unit called Opération Marteau made up of 60 police officers with a $26-million budget.
The opposition parties have repeated that the only reason why the government was refusing to hold a full public inquiry was out of fear that it would lift the veil on the close ties between the Liberal party and alleged contract rigging in the construction industry.
Mr. Deltell, the ADQ Leader, pointed to the Liberals' refusal to debate Mr. Drapeau's motion as an indication of Mr. Charest's iron-fisted control over his party to maintain silence on the issue.
"The Liberal family couldn't even find someone to second a motion to simply to hold a debate. That's what is so disturbing … they don't even want to debate the issue," Mr. Deltell said on Sunday.
ADQ delegates gave Mr. Deltell their unequivocal support at the party's convention in Granby over the weekend with a 97-per-cent vote of confidence in his leadership.
Since the December 2008 election when the party elected only six members - two of whom have since bolted from the caucus - the ADQ has been struggling to become the voice of the province's rejuvenated right-wing movement.
Rhéal Séguin