Liberals want interim ADQ leader sacked

The Charest government has served notice that it intends to table a motion which could eventually force the interim leader of the Action Démocratique du Québec to quit her seat in the national assembly.

The move comes as the opposition Parti Québécois said it will table a no-confidence motion against the governing Liberals to force a public inquiry into Quebec's construction industry.

The Liberals are angry over a statement Sylvie Roy made during question period Thursday, suggesting three cabinet ministers had taken rides on a yacht belonging to Tony Accurso, the businessman at the centre of Montreal’s water-meter scandal.

Deputy government House Leader Claude Béchard called the claims untrue and defamatory.

'This is intimidation against MNAs to make sure they don’t ask questions about a subject of interest to all Quebecers,' —PQ House Leader Stéphane Bédard

He said Roy has refused to apologize.

"There are rules that govern what we do at the national assembly," Béchard said.

"It is not because we have parliamentary immunity and that we were elected that we can tarnish everyone’s reputation."

Béchard said the government had written to national assembly Speaker Yvon Vallières, asking whether a motion alleging Roy violated her parliamentary privilege would be receivable.

Should Vallierès decide that the motion can be heard, Béchard said it would be up to the committee that oversees the activities of the assembly review Roy’s actions and hand down some sort of sanction.

The government is asking that she be forced to apologize, be relieved of her duties as interim party leader — or resign her seat.

The Liberals hold a majority on the committee.

Béchard could not say whether there was any precedent for such a decision.

"It is very serious to tarnish someone’s reputation without proof," Béchard said.

Attempt to intimidate

Parti Québécois house leader Stéphane Bédard called the motion "unacceptable, odious and contemptuous."

"This is intimidation against MNAs to make sure they don’t ask questions about a subject of interest to all Quebecers," said Bédard.

He called on Vallières to reject the motion, which he called an attempt to distract attention from the opposition’s demands for a public inquiry into allegations of collusion in the construction industry.

Bédard refused to comment on the validity of Roy’s comments, saying it was not up to him to be the judge.

On Friday, Premier Jean Charest named the three ministers alleged to have met with Accurso. Charest said they were Transport Minister Julie Boulet, Deputy Transport Minister Norman MacMillan and former labour minister David Whissell.

Charest said he had been notified of the allegations in March by former city of Montreal opposition leader Benoît Labonté.

"We verified with these people and the information is false," Charest said.

Accurso also denied the allegations in a statement released last week.

PQ to table motion

PQ officials told CBC News on Tuesday that the party will table its no-confidence motion this week.

The legislative tactic is meant to pressure the Liberal government to call a public inquiry into the recent explosive allegations about Quebec's construction industry.

The national assembly will vote on the motion on Thursday, but given that the Liberals hold a majority of seats, the government is not at risk of falling.

The PQ's move comes as the province's Order of Engineers demanded a similar public inquiry to clear the air of insinuations about the construction industry and public contract tendering.

Sent letter to media

In a letter sent to Quebec's major media outlets, the engineering group's president Maud Cohen said she is shocked and distressed by the cloud of suspicion hanging over her profession following weeks of accusations.

A public inquiry is the only way to clear the air and ensure Quebecers their tax dollars are being well spent and "the public is being protected," especially as the province gets set to spend some $40 billion to renew infrastructure, she wrote.

Police investigations can only target individuals whereas a public inquiry will review the system as a whole, Cohen said.

Last week Quebec announced the creation of "Opération Marteau" or Operation Hammer, a special squad made up of police officers and Crown attorneys dedicated to investigating corruption and fraud allegations in the construction industry.

In her letter, Cohen said she doesn't discount the possibility some of her own members may be implicated in that probe, and welcomes any needed housecleaning.