Agriculture Minister Pierre Paradis is the subject of a police investigation for an alleged offence of a sexual nature.
It's not clear exactly what Paradis has done, but there are reports he was involved in a fight last week in Quebec City, and that an individual has filed a sexual misconduct complaint with municipal police.
The Sureté du Quebec informed Premier Philippe Couillard about the specifics of the investigation on Thursday evening, although Couillard was notified last Friday that someone had filed a complaint against Paradis.
Couillard confirmed Friday that on Tuesday he saw a copy of the letter of complaint.
"We received a letter from the person saying that she or he has been the victim of these incidents, which led to the immediate removal of Mr. Paradis from cabinet," said Couillard.
However the Premier's office never informed the media of this reason.
Instead, the next day Paradis's aide said that the minister had fallen off a horse and suffered a "light" concussion, and so was going on sick leave until he recovered. Laurent Lessard was then sworn in as agriculture minister, in addition to his duties as transportation minister.
It was only on Thursday that the premier removed Paradis from cabinet and suspended him from the Liberal party.
But now, with the revelation that Couillard knew of the complaint before Paradis was injured, some are wondering if the goverment was trying to cover up the incident.
"It's a very, very serious situation and we need... everything must be exposed to the public. Another thing is: what's that government? For two years now we're going from crisis to crisis, and we are beginning another session with a minister which is in trouble," said Agnes Maltais, the Parti Quebecois critic for ethics.
Nathalie Roy, integrity critic for the CAQ agrees.
"Mr. Couillard let run a fake news, like they say in the United States. He let in run for more than 24 hours knowing that it was false and he did nothing," said Roy.
"That's shameful. People deserve better than that."
Couillard returned to Quebec on Friday after spending a week at the Davos economic conference in Switzerland.
He said Friday that the news of why Paradis was leaving cabinet did not come from him.
"I must say though, that according to the information that I have, Mr. Paradis was indeed the victim of an accident and a concussion and is under medical care as we speak," said Couillard.
"This was not the reason for which he was asked to leave cabinet first on a temporary basis on Wednesday and on a permanent basis [on Thursday]."
Paradis has been on sick leave from the National Assembly this week.
On Friday he saw his doctor who sent him to a hospital in Montreal for further tests.
Paradis has represented the riding of Brome-Missisquoi since 1980. He is 66 years old.
