Francois Legault faced his first question period as Quebec’s premier on Thursday, the same day his party introduced its first bill.
The bill, if passed, would change how the head of UPAC – Quebec’s anti-corruption police unit – is chosen. In late October, the party promised to introduce new rules that it said would make the process less partisan. Under current law, the UPAC chief is named by the party holding power in the National Assembly.
Public Security Minister Genevieve Guilbault submitted Bill 1, which would require two-thirds of the National Assembly to vote in favour of a new UPAC leader.
“It sends a really crucial message regarding transparency, neutrality and integrity of the nominations made by the government,” she said. “It is important -- in the facts, as well as in the perception of the public -- that those people are nominated for their experience and their competence and never because of their political acquaintance. So, with this bill today, we are crystallizing this statement that we made for four years.”
Pascal Berube, the interim leader of the Parti Quebecois, said he favours the bill but there’s still skepticism.
“I think it’s a good idea that he went in our direction for this matter,” he said. “It seems to me he wants to make this bill, his first one, his signature bill. But when he’s going to name the new commissioner, we do think he has to name someone outside the organization, to make sure it’s totally independent.”
In October, Legault named former Surete du Quebec officer Frederic Gaudreau as UPAC’s interim leader. That followed the resignation of Robert Lafreniere on election day. Lafreniere had been highly criticized for how his unit had handled the politically sensitive case involving then-Liberal MNA Guy Ouellette.
