Trial Normandeau: the mna Guy Ouellette assigned to testify

Photo Simon Clark
The judge André Perreault has authorized the issuance of a subpoena Wednesday to compel the mna Guy Ouellette to testify at the trial for fraud of Nathalie Normandeau.

Jean-Luc Lavallée

Wednesday, 31 January 2018 11:26

UPDATE
Wednesday, 31 January 2018 11:58

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Suspected by the UPAC to have sunk elements of the police investigation to the media, the liberal mna Guy Ouellette will be called to testify by the defense, Thursday afternoon, at the trial of Nathalie Normandeau, and Marc-Yvan Côté.

The mna of Chomedey, who faces no charges in the wake of his arrest and the search warrant at his home last October 25, will inevitably be questioned on the leak of sensitive documents sent to various media regarding the investigation Yoke and Mâchurer.

Defense lawyers are trying, since Wednesday, to identify those responsible for these leaks in the context of a request for a stay of proceedings, arguing that their customers will not be entitled to a fair and just trial.

Called to the bar on Wednesday, the witness the star of the Charbonneau commission, the former contractor Lino Zambito, has said under oath that the arrest precipitated Nathalie Normandeau had forced the hand of the cabinet of Philippe Couillard, who has not had other choice than to renew the contract of Robert Lafrenière, the head of the Unité permanente anti-corruption.

By doing this, the prime minister would have rejected the nomination of Me Denis Gallant (the former chief prosecutor deputy of the Charbonneau commission), which was in the “head” on the “short list” of candidates. “When Mr. Coiteux is to impose the choice of Mr. Lafrenière, he was not happy and he said : “You’re going to live with your decision'”, he recounted in his testimony, saying the information came from the mpp Ouellette.

“This was a calculated “

Mr. Zambito, who has police protection, has extensively detailed his own “theory” about the arrest of the ex-vice-prime minister and his co-accused on the day of the budget. “It was a calculation. Mr. Lafrenière was brought to its knees the liberals. I would have been surprised that in the aftermath of the arrest of Ms. Normandeau, Mr. Lafreniere will be put at the door “, he observed.

“Since the beginning, we are seeking a few scapegoats to try to lower the pressure. The people who have put in place collusion, or corruption, whether it be Montreal or the ministry of Transport, I have not seen handcuffed again. “

The defense will be questioned also on Thursday, the ex-police officer of UPAC Richard Despatie, who would have had contact with Mr. Ouellette and the SQ police officer Stéphane Bonhomme.

Coiteux discreet about Gallant

Interviewed on the sidelines of the caucus présessionnel of the liberals, the minister of public Safety, Martin Coiteux, has refused to confirm the identity of the candidates who had been approached for the position of commissioner of UPAC. He dodged all the questions about Me Gallant, invoking the judicial process.

“I won’t say more on it. The committee has done its job. It had a mandate to deliver to us at least three names to be valid and we have made our choice. When we made this appointment, it was explained that it is a young institution which was in need of stability “, he replied.

– With the collaboration of Marc-André Gagnon

Suggestion to investigators – Zambito wanted to put Lafrenière on listening

Asked about the leaks of police in the media, the former contractor Lino Zambito said on Wednesday that he had suggested to the investigators that the SQ was put on listening, the head of UPAC, Robert Lafreniere, and the former chief of staff to the prime minister Couillard, Jean-Louis Dufresne.

Police officers assigned to the internal investigation of him would have answered with a ” smile “, he observed, leaving him to believe that his “theory” was plausible. One of the two police officers reportedly said to the other : “He is not mad “, he recounted. Mr. Zambito said that he had no confidence in the senior management of the UPAC. Pressed by questions from Me Jacques Larochelle, however, he acknowledged that he could not identify the origin of leaks with certainty, and he denied with force that he himself is the author.

Leaks in the media – The judge Sylvain Lépine bleached of any suspicion

Targeted by Lino Zambito in his autobiography published in 2016, the judge of the Court of Québec, Sylvain Lépine, formerly chief prosecutor of the UPAC, has been cleared of all suspicion, on Wednesday, on the subject of leaks in the media.

The ex-contractor implied in his book that to Me Lépine had powered the issuance Investigation to put the government in embarrassment because of his alleged political aspirations for the PQ or the CAQ. “It is false. It is against the values that guided me during my entire career “, he denied.

The legal adviser of Mr. Zambito, Mr. Denis Dolbec, who told him the content of his private conversation with Me Lépine, also claimed that his remarks had been wrongly “interpreted” by Mr. Zambito. End of the story. The defence and the Crown have both concluded that it was responsible for any leak.

“They don’t deserve it” – A policeman came to the defence of the accused

Overthrown by the hype arising out of the arrest of Nathalie Normandeau, and the six other individuals pinned on the day of the budget in 2016, the investigator Mathieu Venne has stated that they ” don’t deserve it “.

“This is not how it should have been done, but I don’t have power,” testified the police officer, whose statement about the precipitation of the operation made headlines last week. With the benefit of hindsight, he said a better understanding of today’s media interest in these public figures. Mr. Venne has also said that he was “fallen to earth” when he had seen the emails exchanged between the ex-minister Sam Hamad and Marc-Yvan Côté on television. Interrogated in turn on “the epidemic of casting” in the media, has denied any involvement.