MONTREAL — The crisis enveloping Quebec’s anti-corruption police following last week’s arrest of a National Assembly member deepened Tuesday as the Speaker of the legislature warned of a threat to democracy. Appearing in the legislature for the first time since his arrest last Wednesday, Ouellette called the UPAC operation a “frame-up” aimed at preventing him from looking into “irregularities” in UPAC’s operations. But after being invited by Premier Philippe Couillard to give “as many details as possible” about Ouellette’s arrest, UPAC commissioner Robert Lafrenière called a late afternoon news conference to reject Ouellette’s accusations. He denied that the arrest was tied to a concern that Ouellette had dug up dirt on UPAC or was demanding greater accountability of the squad. Despite the call from Quebec City for UPAC to lay charges or apologize, Boulanger said he would not be rushed.

Source: National Post October 31, 2017 22:39 UTC