UPAC denies arrest of Guy Ouellette was 'attempt at intimidation'
UPAC head Robert Lafrenière denies trap set for MNA, says it was 'bait,' not a set-up
Quebec's anti-corruption unit (UPAC) held what it called an "exceptional" news conference Tuesday, denying embattled MNA Guy Ouellette's version of events, made in an unusual speech to the National Assembly earlier Tuesday afternoon.
Ouellette told fellow MNAs that he was the victim of a set-up and accused UPAC of "an attempt at intimidation without precedent."
Flanked by UPAC's operations director André Boulanger and Marcel Forget, the commissioner in charge of corporate integrity audits, the head of UPAC, Robert Lafrenière, begged to differ.
To Ouellette's charge of having been set up by UPAC, Lafrenière said, "It's an investigation technique of using bait, and not — I'm borrowing from Mr. Ouellette's terms — a framing."
Boulanger described the technique as a "test of integrity."
'Convinced' charges are pending
Much has been made of the fact that no charges were laid after Ouellette was briefly detained last week, then released later that day. However, Lafrenière made it clear that the investigation is continuing.
"I am absolutely convinced that there will be accusations in this case," Lafrenière said, although he would not specify against who he believes charges may be brought.
He added it was up to the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) to approve charges.
Boulanger explained that the arrest of Ouellette and of former Transport Ministry analyst Annie Trudel last week were unexpected but resulted from normal police procedures as UPAC carried out authorized search warrants.
He said they were a result of information gathered in UPAC's Operation Mâchurer investigation, which is looking into the provincial Liberal Party's financing.
Lafrenière said the arrests are part of a probe into leaked documents about Operation Mâchurer but that they had nothing to do with adopting ISO standards for anti-corruption, which would affect UPAC, as Ouellette has proposed.
He acknowledged UPAC is not immune to corruption and that, in fact, the unit has been investigating someone on its team as part of Mâchurer.
'Attack on democratic process,' says Ouellette
Ouellette spoke to the National Assembly at 2:30 p.m., two hours before UPAC's news conference.
"Stopping members of the National Assembly from exercising the mandate they were elected for is an extremely serious attack on the democratic process," Ouellette said in his remarks, made only after he received permission from Jacques Chagnon, the president of the National Assembly, to speak with impunity.
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Prior to Ouellette's four-minute address, Chagnon addressed the legislature himself, condemning Ouellette's arrest in the strongest language.
"I will fight for every one of you if you were a victim of intimidation," Chagnon told MNAs.
Chagnon also challenged UPAC to explain its actions, given that the damage to Ouellette's reputation as a result of his arrest has impeded his ability to do the work he's elected to carry out.
"Police bodies and their units must be held accountable to their political leaders and to the legislature, if not, the risk of a totalitarian drift increases," Chagnon said.
Ouellette had voluntarily withdrawn from the Liberal caucus last Wednesday in the wake of his arrest.
The MNA for Chomedey and a former Sûreté du Québec investigator said he believed he was arrested because he had been informed of irregularities in the way UPAC was applying its own rules of governance.
Following Ouellette's speech, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard and Parti Québécois leader Jean-François Lisée also addressed the assembly.
"An MNA who is the chair of a parliamentary committee whose mandate includes watching over a police body is arrested by the very same police body, without clarification for the motive of the arrest," said Couillard.
"It's a grave and excessively serious event, if we're to sum it up."
Lisée asked that UPAC commissioner Robert Lafrenière be brought to answer MNAs' questions in the assembly, saying, "We're wondering who is watching the watchers."
But Couillard said it wasn't a realistic request because it could jeopardize the justice process.
Bombshell allegations
In an interview that aired Monday on French-language radio station 98.5, Ouellette said he was framed and that his arrest was an orchestrated attempt by UPAC to discourage MNAs from scrutinizing the police unit.
The same day, a former analyst with the Quebec Transport Ministry accused the AMF, Quebec's securities regulator, and UPAC of colluding to benefit a private consultation firm.
Annie Trudel is quoted in the Journal de Montréal saying Ouellette also has information on the scheme. None of the allegations have been verified by CBC/Radio-Canada.
UPAC hasn't commented on those claims, and the AMF categorically denies them. Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux has asked the province's auditor general to look into the allegations.