UPAC Launches Preliminary Inquiry into Liberal Party Leadership Convention
Quebec's political landscape has been shaken as the province's permanent anticorruption unit (UPAC) confirmed it is meeting with witnesses regarding allegations surrounding the Quebec Liberal Party's leadership convention. The development comes amid growing tensions between party leader Pablo Rodriguez and his political opponents.
Political Opponents Seize on Corruption Allegations
Speaking to reporters on Thursday morning, Québec solidaire MNA Alejandra Zaga Mendez dramatically held up a copy of PLQ Inc., a 2019 book that investigated corruption allegations against the Quebec Liberal Party under former premier Jean Charest. "When we see UPAC and the Liberal Party of Quebec in the same newspaper headline, it reminds us of just one thing," she declared. "Every day, we wake up and we learn of a new scandal in the Liberal Party of Quebec."
Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon escalated the criticism, accusing the Liberal party of maintaining a "culture of corruption" that he claimed stems from loyalty to the "Canadian regime."
Rodriguez Fights Back Against "Political Game"
Liberal Leader Pablo Rodriguez vehemently rejected the accusations, defending his party's historical significance in Quebec politics. He characterized the Québec solidaire's references to alleged corruption under Jean Charest as nothing more than "their political game" because "they don't have anything else to say."
Rodriguez positioned the Liberals as "the party of the economy" and "the party of a just society," emphasizing that it remains Quebec's oldest political party. He maintained that despite removing Marwah Rizqy from her post as parliamentary leader after she fired her chief of staff Geneviève Hinse, he still didn't know why Rizqy had taken that action.
The UPAC investigation, first reported by the Journal de Montréal, focuses on fundraising allegations involving the Quebec Liberal Party. Although the anticorruption unit stressed that it hasn't initiated a formal investigation, it confirmed that preliminary meetings with witnesses are underway.
Rodriguez promised full cooperation if UPAC proceeds with a formal investigation, stating unequivocally: "We're going to collaborate. We have nothing to hide."
The political turmoil comes as a Pallas Data poll published by L'actualité revealed concerning numbers for the Liberal leader. The survey showed only 13 per cent of Quebecers have a favourable impression of Rodriguez, placing him behind other party leaders and tying him with Premier François Legault. More troubling for the Liberals, Rodriguez is the only leader less popular than his party, though 25 per cent of Quebecers still indicated they would vote for the Liberals.
