Quebec election: Party leader calls into question integrity of corruption probe
August 07, 2012 - 5:53 PM
MONTREAL - A party leader in the Quebec election has called into question the integrity of the province's high-profile corruption inquiry.
The remarks from Coalition Quebec Leader Francois Legault come amid a spat involving the probe looking into the construction industry, its Mafia ties, and illegal political fundraising.
The dispute began with a tantalizing question: Why did a candidate running for Legault make such sensational allegations, while testifying in June about what he called rampant corruption in political fundraising, but not name any names?
That star witness, Jacques Duchesneau, is now an election candidate and he says the absence of specific names is because inquiry lawyers didn't ask him the right questions.
Today an inquiry lawyer snapped back, saying Duchesneau provided vague information and the questions asked on the stand this June stemmed from what he had said during pre-interviews.
Now the leader of the party Duchesneau is running for says perhaps commission counsel had something to hide — and was perhaps trying to protect the Charest government by tossing softball questions.
Legault says his candidate is ready to return to the witness stand anytime as of next week, if the inquiry is willing to momentarily suspend its summer break.
And he took several shots at inquiry lawyer Sylvain Lussier during a news conference.
"Why weren't people asking questions? Why wasn't Mr. Lussier asking questions? Was there something to hide? Was he protecting the government?" Legault said.
"It's pretty serious. We've got a Crown lawyer who says, 'I'm not happy with the answers,' but he didn't ask the questions."
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012