Andrew Chung - MONTREAL—Forgive yourself if you haven't heard, but there's a by-election in Quebec on Monday: It's in an area that's largely rural and its name — Kamouraska-Témiscouata — doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.
But this by-election is worth a second glance because it's giving voters in this province their first chance to cast judgment on a premier and a government that are becoming hard to see through the thick fog of corruption allegations creeping through the doorways of power.
Premier Jean Charest headed to France on Thursday, though he's facing the worst crisis of his seven years in office. He just squeaked through a stern non-confidence vote, and the signatures on a petition demanding his resignation are nearing 250,000. His approval ratings are worse than George W. Bush's at their nadir.
For nearly two years, Quebec has been beset by revelation after revelation of corruption and ethical malpractice, involving biker gangs, the mafia and — most ubiquitously — the construction industry.
The miasma has found its way into city halls, union boardrooms, and even the premier's office.
The call for a vast public inquiry has grown deafening, yet Charest has steadfastly refused. Skeptics say that's because it could be damaging for the government.
How will Quebec pull out of this mess? Charest is relying on a special police squad called Operation Hammer to make some high-profile arrests.
The problem, some experts say, is that neither arrests nor an inquiry will change a culture that has encouraged some elements of Quebec society to behave so badly. And the solution is much more complicated.
“People are very angry,” says Amir Khadir, the National Assembly opposition member behind the Charest petition. “There's a part of the population that thinks all parties are condemned to be victims of corruption. It's sad.”
And no one seems safe. If the rot once seemed relegated to Montreal and Quebec City's legislative halls, citizens have been getting a wakeup call: regional towns are stuck in the mire as well.
THE MUNICIPALITIES
In early November, the mayors of Terrebonne and Mascouche, Montreal suburbs, stepped down amid allegations of improper links with construction entrepreneurs.
St. Jérôme Mayor Marc Gascon had his house renovated by companies who were also awarded town contracts. And two sitting politicians came forward to say longtime Laval Mayor Gilles Vaillancourt offered them cash stuffed in a white envelope while they were campaigning. Hear all this and you can understand why 75 per cent of Quebecers, according to a recent Angus Reid poll, think their whole province is corrupt.
But there's more. Quebecers remember well the infamous luxury yacht belonging to construction magnate Tony Accurso, and how he welcomed aboard several people on whom his firms rely for business — including the Montreal mayor's former right-hand man, Frank Zampino — just before the city awarded its biggest contract ever to a group that included one of Accurso's companies.
A municipal opposition party leader, Benoît Labonté, harshly criticized the mayor for this, until it was revealed during the local election campaign that Labonté himself had accepted cash from Accurso.
THE UNION
Several leaders in the Quebec Federation of Labour, including its president, Michel Arsenault, also vacationed on Accurso's boat. The union's investment arm had poured about $250 million into Accurso's businesses over the years.
Broadcaster Radio-Canada also revealed connections between former union executive Jocelyn Dupuis and figures in the Hells Angels and the Mafia.
The union continues to battle allegations that it has ties to organized crime and intimidation practices on job sites.
THE FIRMS
Last June, an RCMP officer testified in a Rome courtroom that the Mafia takes a 5 per cent cut on construction contracts in Quebec; Radio-Canada recently reported that the Mafia receives up to $500,000 a month from a group of 14 companies for organizing the collusion.
Engineering consulting firms are also suspected to be involved. Khadir's left-wing party Quebec Solidaire, which did some analyzing, told police it suspects four such companies had financed the Liberals in 2008 to the tune of $400,000, using 149 “front men.” Corporate financing of political parties is illegal in Quebec. Only individuals may donate.
THE PROVINCE
Charest's cabinet has also taken a hit over unethical practices. Two members stepped down, including David Whissel, who left because a construction firm he partly owned received several government contracts.
The most sensational event since the crisis began, however, was a series of allegations made by Marc Bellemare, the former justice minister.
He alleged that fundraisers for the Liberal Party — including construction entrepreneur Franco Fava — pressured him to name certain Liberal-friendly judges to the bench. He also said Charest ordered him to do as they said. (Charest denies this.)
Bellemare further alleged that he saw money change hands between Liberal Party fundraisers and construction industry representatives.
All of this has emerged since spring 2009. And the truth about many of the allegations may never be known because they're just one person's word against another's.
According to lawyer Donald Riendeau, an ethics and governance adviser whose corporate clients include the Quebec Construction Commission, that's the trouble with a public inquiry: It can lead to people using immunity granted under the inquiry to make allegations that cannot be proved.
Quebec's crisis of corruption — the worst in Canada — results from a culture of tolerance for ethically questionable practices that developed over the past 20 years, Riendeau says.
In 1976, the Parti Québécois government enacted the strictest campaign finance laws in the country.
But since then, Riendeau says, apart from real crimes, “many politicians adopted business practices in the ‘grey zone.' Why? The culture of Quebec is very ‘laissez-faire'; very, ‘Oh, that's okay, everyone does it.'”
For example: The practice of company heads contributing to parties in the guise of individual donations; or providing goodies such as travel on private yachts, lavish restaurant meals and junkets.
“Not illegal, but in 2010, on the ethics side it's become more questionable,” Riendeau says of such practices.
“We've had an all-you-can-eat buffet for too long and Quebecers are saying, enough is enough.'”
Riendeau recommends giving more heft to laws regulating the construction industry and introducing stronger municipal ethics codes. He suggests putting fewer restrictions on the lobbying commissioner to investigate questionable activities.
Changing the culture is tougher, he says.
People in their 50s and 60s who have never been punished for questionable practices will find it hard to change, even if they're being watched more closely.
Change will come as citizens themselves realize corruption must be stopped, he says. They must be more willing to speak out — and to change their own habits, such as the practice of paying contractors under the table to avoid taxes. This will produce more honest politicians in the next generation.
Khadir says the essential problem is the same everywhere: Politicians are just too close to elite businesspeople. Still, like Riendeau, he hopes citizens will continue to mobilize against corruption.
“I hope people will have more confidence in themselves and not allow this kind of gangrenous infection to take hold of our political body once again.”
So who will win in Kamouraska-Témiscouata this Monday? Charest has taken out some insurance by unilaterally giving the local Bombardier plant a massive contract to build Montreal subway cars.
So far, his candidate is neck-and-neck with the PQ. If he loses, it would seem the fog is seriously clouding his political future.