Politicians call for end to Quebec anti-corruption unit, calling it 'theatre' after internal leaks

A decade after its creation, Quebec's opposition leaders say it's time to dismantle the province's specialized anti-corruption police unit, UPAC.

After a newly unsealed court ruling laid bare the years of behind-the-scenes dealings that derailed the unit's own work -- most of these pinned on its former director, Robert Lafrenière -- they said it can't function anymore.

"It says that for years, all of this was theatre," said Parti Quebecois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.

"So how can you continue with that organization if, culturally speaking, the organization as a whole was in the business of theatre?"

The 81-page court ruling, which was first written in fall 2020 but kept sealed until Monday, lays out in painstaking detail the dysfunction within the unit that ultimately tanked some of its most important investigations, including one into the former deputy premier.

• READ MORE: Years of media leaks from Quebec anti-corruption squad came from its director, watchdog concludes

The ruling described long and expensive efforts to uncover who was repeatedly leaking sensitive information about the investigations, only for various parties to conclude the unit itself was responsible, and likely Lafrenière himself, as Quebec's police watchdog office argued.

The Quebec Liberals, who created the unit in 2011, also found that their members become the focus of some of its best-known investigations.

That included former premier Jean Charest -- whose investigation ultimately ended with no charges -- and into his former deputy, Nathalie Normandeau, whose charges were stayed after all the leaks interfered with her right to justice.

The Liberals' new leader said Tuesday that she, too, thinks the unit has run its course.

"The fact that processes were not followed, documents were leaked -- I think that we're done with UPAC," said Dominique Anglade.

"It's more than concerning, it's mind-boggling," she said.

"It should be taken down unless they demonstrate their relevance."

Lafrenière's motives in leaking the info, according to court testimony, was to force prosecutors to speed up their work and also to secure his own future at the head of the unit, which began without permanent funding and with a five-year mandate for its director.

Lafrenière has denied all the allegations, saying he had nothing to do with the leaks.

The unit was originally created to bring in a new and more transparent era in Quebec politics, rooting out crooked public-works deals and corruption among those in power.

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