QUEBEC – A handwriting and ink expert will testify before the Bastarache Commission to present his findings of an analysis of notes former justice minister Marc Bellemare says he took just after his resignation.
Luc Brazeau, an expert with the Canada Border Services Agency, will give his testimony at the inquiry on the nomination of Quebec judges on Wednesday.
Bellemare will then be brought back before the commission on Thursday to answer questions specifically about the notes he says he took.
During Bellemare's testimony at the end of last month he said that the only notes he kept regarding his allegations of influence-peddling on the nomination of judges were written after his resignation as justice minister in 2004.
The former minister explained that he began scribbling some notes on a piece of cardboard the evening of his resignation in April of 2004 while watching a Montreal Canadiens hockey game at home. That piece of cardboard was submitted to the commission.
The lead prosecutor for the commission, Giuseppe Battista, announced the news prior to Tuesday's hearings at the commission being presided by former judge Michel Bastarache. He also said the commission will hold five days of hearings next week, and that the witnesses expected to testify next week will be announced at the end of the day Thursday.
Bellemare's former deputy minister Michel Bouchard was continuing his testimony Tuesday.
