Quebec Liberal MNA Marie Montpetit expelled from caucus with party in tailspin

Marie Montpetit, Quebec's minister of culture and communications, scrums with reporters in Trois-Rivieres, Que., on Monday, Dec.4, 2017. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jean-Philippe Pineault)

QUEBEC CITY -

The Liberal MNA for Maurice-Richard, Marie Montpetit, was expelled Monday from her party’s caucus following a psychological harassment complaint filed against her.

The expulsion comes at a time when the party led by Dominique Anglade is going through a crisis of an almost unprecedented magnitude.

The Liberal leader is undergoing her first real leadership test since she took up the job a year and a half ago, faced with allegations of psychological harassment against Montpetit and the liberties taken by MNA Gaétan Barrette on social media, where he commented on health issues without being the spokesperson.

All signs point to Anglade passing the test, clearly asserting her authority, determined to use a hard line if necessary. She’s seeking to impose on her team her values of zero tolerance for any form of intimidation and any lack of respect for her instructions, especially since it’s all coming just a few weeks before a crucial convention for the Liberals, and even for her personal future.

In an interview with The Canadian Press on Monday, she said that her type of leadership will be collaborative and based on mutual respect, "period.” Behaviour by MNAs that deviates from this rule will not be tolerated, she said.

Two members of her caucus, Montpetit and Barrette, have embarrassed their leader in recent days, forcing her to crack down on them Saturday night by stripping them of all their parliamentary responsibilities.

In the morning, internal sources indicated that the leader would not hesitate to suspend or even expel them from the Liberal caucus, the most extreme sanction to be imposed on delinquent MNAs. That scenario was confirmed late Monday when it came to former minister of culture, Montpetit.

Last May, when Marie-Ève Proulx was excluded from cabinet, but not from the Coalition Avenir Québec caucus, following complaints from former employees about psychological harassment, Anglade's reaction was unequivocal.

She stated that she would have acted differently, saying: "I would not want to have this person in my caucus, I'll tell you that much.”

Anglade suggested in an interview Monday that in both cases the situation had been going on for months, sources within the caucus confirmed. The main parties involved had received warnings in the recent past, but nothing had changed, they explained.

Set against this backdrop, Anglade felt she had no choice but to apply harsher sanctions on Saturday.

On Monday, new allegations of psychological harassment against Montpetit were brought to the attention of the leader's office. After a meeting with Liberal officials and then a caucus meeting, the MNA was expelled. Caucus Chair Pierre Arcand informed her of the decision.

MONTPETIT: PSYCHOLOGICAL HARASSMENT

Rumours and allegations of harassment and intimidation from former staff members against Marie Montpetit had been circulating for months in Liberal circles, but no formal complaint had been made. In recent days, however, a former political aide filed a written complaint of psychological harassment with the Liberal parliamentary wing. That was considered the last straw.

The file will be transferred to the National Assembly for investigation. An independent firm will be mandated to analyze the complaint.

Liberal MNAs contacted on Monday were not at all surprised by the turn of events and the allegations against their colleague. One of them was rather surprised 'that it didn't come out sooner,' as it was known that she could denigrate and insult her staff, they said.

In a telephone interview, Anglade defended herself for having taken a long time to intervene and crack down on the matter. She maintained that every time a fact or a problem was brought to her attention, she 'acted' immediately, calling the elected officials in question to order. She said she is very "comfortable with the decisions made" by her or her team at every stage of the file, which she said she takes very seriously.

On her side, Montpetit categorically denies the allegations. She would not agree to an interview on Monday, preferring to release a brief statement to the media, in which she said she has always placed 'mutual respect' at the heart of her workplace relationships. She did not comment on her exclusion from the caucus.

“I hope that a formal investigation process will be launched quickly so that I can set the record straight and defend my reputation," she wrote, adding that she would cooperate with the investigation.

BARRETTE 'CROSSED THE LINE’

The case of Barrette, who was until Saturday the spokesman on Treasury Board issues, is different, but his propensity to comment on social networks on health issues, which were until recently under the responsibility of Montpetit, is also apparently causing annoyance.

In the Liberal ranks, some feel he 'crossed the line' last week when he tweeted that the president of the Federation of General Practitioners, Dr. Louis Godin, was lying about physician productivity at a time when family doctors and the government are at loggerheads over the issue.

That tweet, published on Oct. 26, triggered the current crisis and led to a retort from Montpetit, who deemed his comment ‘unproductive,’ and saying it reminded her of Premier François Legault’s authoritarian attitude.

It’s considered rare and highly frowned upon for an MNA to publicly rebuke a colleague in politics.

In addition, a meal shared between Barrette and the Legault’s chief of staff, Martin Koskinen, an initiative taken without informing anyone in his caucus last summer, went south.

Asked whether she wanted Barrette to be the Liberal candidate in the next election, Anglade remained evasive, saying she wanted "a renewal" of her party and team, while saying she wanted to surround herself with candidates for whom respect for others would be an essential value.

Barrette did not grant an interview on Monday.

The crisis in the Liberal caucus comes at a bad time, not only because it’s ahead of the party’s convention in a few weeks, but it also comes during an election year when polls place the Liberals light years behind Legault in the polls.

This will be the first time since she became leader that Anglade will be able to meet with her base in person, in a rally, and therefore an opportunity not to be missed to try to reverse that trend. She says she wants to use the opportunity to 'define' her leadership style and reaffirm her values.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 1, 2021.