Former Parti Quebecois leader Andre Boisclair has been arrested for impaired driving in Quebec City.
Quebec City police won't confirm his identity, but do confirm arresting a 51-year-old man who drove into a lamppost shortly after midnight in the St. Roch district.
Police say the man appeared to be intoxicated, refused to take a breathalyzer, and was intimidating officers.
Boisclair was released from custody Thursday morning on a promise to appear in court at a later date.
Boisclair is now facing charges of impaired driving, refusal to take a blood alcohol test, intimidation of officers, and obstruction of justice.
A video taken Wednesday evening briefly shows Boisclair carrying a plate of food while at ‘La Champagnerie,’ a champagne bar in Quebec City celebrating its one-year anniversary.
There are reports he was taken to a hospital emergency room at 3:20 a.m. while in police custody.
Several members of the PQ were tightlipped about news of the arrest of their former leader.
"I don't have any comment," said Stephane Bergeron. "I only say that justice will follow its course."
Agnes Maltais echoed those sentiments.
"There's nothing else to say even if it's a friend. Drinking and driving is criminal," said Maltais.
Boisclair was first elected as a PQ MNA in 1989, when he was 23 years old, and at the time the youngest-ever member of the National Assembly.
He served as an MNA until 2004, and admitted in 2005 that he had been using cocaine for half of his time in office as an MNA.
In 2005 he was named leader of the PQ, a post he held until 2007.
In 2014 Boisclair was named a special advisor to then-Quebec environment minister David Heurtel.
Boisclair has also served in high-profile positions since quitting politics, including as Quebec's delegate-general to New York.
His most recent job: president and director-general of the Urban Development Institute of Quebec.
