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Text messages in Quebec Liberal Party scandal appear cut-and-paste, report finds
Summary
A party-commissioned report says the Journal de Montréal’s published texts were assembled by cutting and pasting and the review found no evidence of wrongdoing; UPAC and the National Assembly ethics probe are continuing.
Content
A report commissioned by the Quebec Liberal Party concludes that the text messages published by the Journal de Montréal appear to have been assembled by cutting and pasting and are not part of the April 11–13, 2025 message chain reviewed. The review was led by former Quebec Superior Court chief justice Jacques R. Fournier, who said he found no evidence of wrongdoing but noted his inquiry relied on voluntary statements and lacked coercive investigative powers. The report also said it could not identify any payments, amounts, or the number of votes affected, and found no indication that Pablo Rodriguez’s campaign had knowledge of the alleged activity.
Known details:
- Fournier’s 39-page report states the published extracts lack dates and could have been added to the chain after removing portions of original messages.
- The report did not find evidence implicating the named MNAs in the published exchanges and did not establish that Rodriguez’s campaign participated in or knew about any vote-buying.
- Quebec’s anti-corruption police (UPAC) are continuing a separate investigation into allegations of vote-buying, and the National Assembly’s ethics commissioner is still investigating Sona Lakhoyan Olivier.
- In response to the controversy, Quebec amended the Elections Act with Bill 14 to regulate donations in leadership races and to set fines for offences.
Summary:
The party-commissioned review narrowed questions about the origin of the published messages and did not produce evidence proving vote-buying, though it did not fully exclude the possibility because of limited investigatory powers. Parallel investigations by UPAC and the ethics commissioner are ongoing, and the province has already changed the law to address donations in leadership contests.
