I've been critical of UPAC since its inception for two reasons.
--It lacks healthy independ-ence from the government that it is supposed to be looking at critically.
Other watchdog agencies - such as the auditor-general's office and the bodies overseeing elections and lobbying - report to the National Assembly, where they must answer to all parties. UPAC enjoys no such insulation from partisanship. It reports to the public-security minister - in other words, to a single politician. It's worth noting that the current minister, Robert Dutil, is no stranger to the world of construction and public-works contracts: He's the former boss of the bridgebuilding unit of Canam, the engineering company.
--The Charest cabinet (not the National Assembly) picked a former chief inspector in the SQ, Robert Lafrenière, to head UPAC. The SQ has seldom been tough on provincial politicians' corruption, and Lafrenière is hardly a hard-nosed outsider à la Eliot Ness. His earlier job was as Dutil's deputy minister. In other words, he has a CV the government can "trust".
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Anti+corruption+team+under/5417639/story.html#ixzz1YKqfxP3Z
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