Quebec judge inquiry adjourns
The closely watched Quebec commission investigating allegations of Liberal Party influence-peddling in the nomination of judges in the province adjourned Wednesday afternoon and will resume next week.
Marc Bellemare, the former justice minister who first made the allegations and who began testifying before the commission on Tuesday, will continue his testimony on Monday.
At that time, he will also be cross-examined by lawyers for Premier Jean Charest, the Quebec Liberal Party and the provincial government.
His testimony before the commission, headed by retired Supreme Court justice Michel Bastarache, could be carried over to Tuesday.
Bellemare dropped several bombshells in his first day of testimony on Tuesday, alleging he witnessed cronyism and influence-peddling among the highest ranks of the Liberal Party.
The ex-minister claims that while he oversaw the justice ministry in 2003 and 2004, influential Liberal bagmen pressed him to name certain people with party connections to the bench and alleges Charest was fully aware of what was going on.
Bellemare also testified that Charest encouraged him to follow the advice on judge appointments of well-known Liberal fundraiser Franco Fava, who is also a former construction entrepreneur.
On Wednesday, Bellemare testified he had several meetings and around 10 telephone conversations with Fava in 2003.
However, the former justice minister could not provide concrete evidence of the talks, saying Fava never called him on a cellphone.
Bellemare has so far only produced some cryptic notes he took, barely legible, undated and scribbled on cardboard paper.
When pressed about the lack of documentation for his claims Wednesday, Bellemare told the commission, "I never take notes. I have a good memory."
Charest vehemently denied all of Bellemare's allegations in a hastily called press conference Tuesday afternoon. The premier has also launched a $700,000 defamation lawsuit against Bellemare.
The premier will be testifying in front of the commission, possibly as early as next week.
According to the opposition Parti Québécois' justice critic, Véronique Hivon, the fact that Charest felt the need to rebut Bellemare's claims in front of reporters shows a complete disregard for the inquiry the premier himself called.
Hivon also said as the scandalous details pile up, the premier's repeated statements that Bellemare is lying do not ring true.
"There is such a building up of allegations that people don't believe [Charest] anymore," Hivon said.