MONTREAL — Two years of scandals in Quebec have reached a boiling point with reports of an elaborate system of corruption implicating the construction industry, political parties and criminal groups like the Mafia.
The scam reportedly saw corrupt civil servants collude with construction companies, helping them find loopholes in the tendering process so they could charge more for public-works contracts.
These construction companies, allegedly tied to the Mafia and criminal biker gangs, would then use some of their extra profits to pump contributions into the coffers of political parties.
Those sensational conclusions are reportedly outlined in a document produced by the province’s new anti-corruption task force and leaked to Quebec media outlets.
The news has been greeted like a bombshell.
While the province has, over the last two years, become increasingly used to allegations of systemic rot in the public tendering process, it has not seen them emerge on such a scale and from such a source.
The anti-corruption unit is led by a former Montreal police chief and was created by the provincial government amid a plethora of scandals over the last two years.
The reactions Thursday were swift and the potential reverberations wide-ranging.
Quebec’s elections watchdog has already announced plans to probe deeper, saying the allegations represent a setback after 30 years of efforts to clean up political financing.
One small opposition party, Quebec solidaire, said Premier Jean Charest is left with three options: call a public inquiry, hold an election, or resign.
First to report on the contents of the study were Radio-Canada, the French-language CBC, late Wednesday, and Montreal La Presse newspaper in a front-page report Thursday with the following headline: Mafia, Bikers and Cartels.
La Presse quotes the document as saying that, even after two years of scandals, the level of corruption uncovered was on an “unexpected scale.”
According to another quote from the document, the actual scope of corruption is so massive that it risks actually “usurping certain functions of the state.”
Opposition parties have been demanding a public inquiry, but the government has stood its ground and insisted a massive police dragnet is the best way to handle the crisis.
Now these latest revelations have prompted renewed calls for a public inquiry.
Quebec Transport Minister Pierre Moreau expressed regret Thursday that the document had been leaked. He said the public release could tip off suspects to the fact that investigators are on to them.
“What matters to me, as a Quebecer, is that the bandits wind up behind bars,” he told reporters in Montreal.
Moreau also tried to cut off renewed demands for an inquiry.
He cited the report as proof that the government was on the right track and that it made a wise choice in appointing ex-Montreal police chief Jacques Duchesneau to head the unit.
“Our government gave Mr. Duchesneau the mandate (to examine this),” Moreau said.
“We had the courage to say, ‘Let’s examine this with the help of someone who is competent and trustworthy.”’