Bellemare gives explosive testimony against Charest
QUEBEC — Quebec Premier Jean Charest personally ordered his former justice minister to name two people to the bench because a party fundraiser wanted them to be made judges, Marc Bellemare testified on Tuesday.
In explosive testimony before the Bastarache commission on Tuesday, Mr. Bellemare, the former justice minister, outlined a meeting between him and Mr. Charest on Sept. 2, 2003 in which he complained that powerful Liberal fundraisers were leaning on him to name certain people judges.
He appealed to the premier for help only to be stunned to discover Mr. Charest seemed to have no problem with any of it, he said.
“Franco [Fava] is a personal friend, he’s an [influential] fundraiser — we need guys like him,” Mr. Bellemare quoted Mr. Charest as telling him. “We need to listen to him. He a professional fundraiser. If he tells you to name [Michel] Simard and [Marc] Bisson, then name them.
“After my meeting with Charest on Sept. 2, it was crystal-clear these two people were going to be appointed. It was Charest’s decision.”
Mr. Fava is a prominent Liberal fundraiser in Quebec City. Mr. Bellemare has named Mr. Fava in previous media interviews, but it is the first time he connected all the dots to the premier.
Mr. Charest has already denied all of Mr. Bellemare’s accusations and is suing him for defamation. Mr. Bellemare has not been cross examined.
But it was clear that Mr. Bellemare was ready to continue his war of words with the premier.
He walked into the commission with the names of three judges he said were named for political reasons and the names of three Liberals doing the pressuring.
The judges include Mr. Bisson — the son of a prominent Liberal organizer who was named a judge in Longueuil. Que., in 2003 by Mr. Bellemare — and Mr. Simard, who was promoted in 2003 to deputy chief judge of the Chambre civile de la Cour du Quebec.
Also on the list is Line Gosselin-Despres, named in 2004 to the Chambre de la jeunesse du district judiciare de Quebec.
Besides Mr. Fava, Mr. Bellemare also named Liberal Charles Rondeau, another long-standing party fundraiser in Quebec City.
Mr. Bellemare testified Mr. Fava and Mr. Rondeau put such pressure on him to make the “right” nominations he called Mr. Charest on a Sunday afternoon to request a meeting because the pressure was too great.
He said the only reason he chose to bring the story to the premier’s attention was because he knew Fava was a “personal friend,” of Mr. Charest, so close he was in the room with the premier on election night in 2003.
Mr. Bellemare said Mr. Fava was so well connected with Charest that he knew Mr. Bellemare was going to be named minister before Mr. Bellemare himself.
“I was embarrassed,” Mr. Bellemare said. “That bugged me. Fava was a close friend of Charest. Otherwise, I would have sent them packing.”
Mr. Bellemare said Mr. Fava met with him four or five times to name Mr. Bisson and Mr. Simard and called him — always using a land line — at home about 10 times.
Mr. Bellemare stressed he did name some judges without being pressured, including Guy Gagnon — who was named head judge of the Cour du Quebec in 2003 — and Nicole Mallette, appointed to the same court that year.
Mr. Bellemare said it’s not that Mr. Bisson and Mr. Simard were not good choices. They just were not his.
When asked why he went ahead with the nominations of Mr. Bisson and Mr. Simard even if he didn’t agree, Mr. Bellemare said: “In politics, the premier is like the Pope. You owe him everything.”
His assertion that Mr. Charest intervened is the first bomb to drop at the hearings.
On his way into the hearings, Mr. Bellemare said Quebecers want to hear what he has to say.
Asked if all the truth will come out, Mr. Bellemare answered: “I certainly hope so.”
But the question is whether Mr. Bellemare will be able to back up his allegations.
La Presse reported on Tuesday that commission lawyers this summer interviewed about 50 people connected to Mr. Bellemare’s allegations and so far none has backed up his story of influence peddling by Mr. Charest’s government.
In his opening comments, Michel Bastarache, who heads the commission, insisted that nobody appearing before him is accused of anything.
The commission plans to hear from 40 witnesses over the next few weeks.
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