Jacques Duchesneau, the former Montreal police chief who was the leader of the investigation into allegations of corruption within Transport Quebec, was relieved of his duties Friday.
His boss Robert Lafrenière, the head of the permanent anti-corruption unit UPAC where Duchesneau led one unit, cancelled his contract that was due to expire in March 2012.
UPAC issued a statement saying Lafrenière and Duchesneau could no longer "continue their collaboration."
Duchesneau had publicly criticized Lafrenière, saying the anti-corruption squad was run too much like a police force and that a retired judge should be brought in to replace him.
Lafrenière fired back saying he planned on having a "frank discussion" with Duchesneau, which came to a head Friday morning.
The opposition Parti Québécois jumped on the move as being a big mistake considering the current lack of trust coming from the population right now.
"I think Mr. Duschesneau was fired only because he talked too much, only because he revealed a few things," said PQ public security critic Richard Bergeron. "And apparently members of this government are really allergic to transparency, to information that (is) revealed to the public."
Public Security Minister Robert Dutil's office released a statement explaning that UPAC makes decisions independent of the government.
Duchesneau influenced government policy
Duchesneau made headlines in September when he leaked an 88-page report documenting clear cases of corruption linking road construction companies, organized crime, Transport Quebec and political donations.
The report, which does not name any firms or individuals, found that prices are regularly hiked by engineering consulting companies and that contractors regularly overrun their costs.
But that report has already had an effect on the government.
Transport Quebec announced this month that it would hire hundreds of engineers in an effort to build up institutional knowledge and stop relying on outsourced contractors to perform inspections.
And with the calls for a public inquiry into the construction industry bolstered by the leak of the Duchesneau report and his testimony at the National Assembly, Premier Jean Charest finally relented and mandated Super Court Judge France Charbonneau to head the inquiry.
On a televised interview following the report's release Duchesneau argued in favour of an inquiry led by a judge, something the provincial government implemented last week.
Lafrenière made his displeasure with Duchesneau public at the beginning of October, saying he did not want an inquiry, and he would not stand by and let the ex-police chief denigrate the work done by UPAC.
