QUEBEC CITY -- Independent Rimouski MNA Harold LeBel will not run in the October election, which coincides with his sexual assault trial.
"I was ready, with humility and confidence, to (...) continue for another four years," he said.
"But here's the thing: in a private file for which I'm being questioned, the delays of the administration of justice push back the proceedings to next fall, in the middle of an election period."
"I was hoping to live this moment in the spring. That was the plan."
"This postponement (...) forces me (...) to give up my will to ask the population for a third mandate as deputy of Rimouski, (...) an office so precious to me, so dear to me," he added.
During his speech, LeBel said he was "deeply disappointed." He said his decision had nothing to do with "any presumption as to the outcome of this case."
He said he will finish his term of office with "serenity."
Harold LeBel, who is 59 years old, was arrested in December 2020 by Sûreté du Québec police officers, then excluded from the Parti Québécois for the duration of the judicial process.
He quickly announced through his lawyer his intention to plead not guilty to the charge of sexual assault that was brought against him.
The acts alleged against LeBel allegedly occurred in 2017. The identity of the alleged victim is protected by a court order.
A long-time activist, Harold LeBel became the MNA for Rimouski in 2014 under the Parti Québécois banner. He was then easily re-elected in 2018.
At the time of his arrest, he had just been crowned 'best representative of his riding' in a La Presse poll of parliamentarians.
- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 3, 2022
