ADQ leader wants police investigation, new leadership race

QUEBEC - The political scandals that have rocked Quebec mushroomed Tuesday with the new leader of the province's Action democratique suddenly announcing his resignation and declaring his intention to report alleged financing irregularities to the police.

Less than one month into his reign as ADQ leader, Gilles Taillon dropped the bombshells at a hastily convened news conference.

No sooner had Taillon stormed out of the room, there was more: a Liberal member of the provincial legislature announced he would resign to sit as an Independent pending a police investigation into a cash-stuffed envelope transfer.

Tuesday's events provided a dramatic development after months of successive scandals that began with reports of cost overruns in municipal construction projects, and cosy ties between municipal politicians and industry bosses.

Those were followed by reports of Mafia involvement in the construction business, and allegations that construction money was illegally funding political parties at higher levels than Montreal's city hall.

Now the ADQ is calling the police on itself.

With high-placed connections in Quebec and Ottawa, the Action democratique's woes will surely generate plenty of attention.

One of those connections in Ottawa is Conservative Sen. Leo Housakos, who is described in one of his corporate bios as the ADQ's chief fundraiser from 2001 to 2008. He was out of the country Tuesday, but his office issued a statement saying Taillon was free to contact police if he had any concerns.

Earlier Tuesday, Taillon told a news conference he was quitting. He did not explicitly explain why he was leaving, although the party has been crippled by infighting and Taillon has been battling prostate cancer.

Taillon did say that, upon taking over the party leadership Oct. 18, he discovered "troubling aspects" of the party's finances starting in 2003. He did not elaborate and did not take questions after his announcement.

But he did say the police should be involved.

"I intend to push my observations further and will probably demand a meeting with the authorities at the Surete du Quebec (provincial police)," he said, before walking away.

Taillon's comments on the ADQ financing come a few weeks after the party announced it would cut off ties with members of the Conservative party, including Housakos.

Housakos has been a senior Conservative organizer and was president of the ADQ's fundraising commission before quitting the job in December after a debacle at the polls that saw the party reduced to seven seats.

Shortly thereafter, Housakos was named a senator by the prime minister.

In recent weeks, Housakos has made headlines in Ottawa and subsequently asked the Senate Ethics Officer to look into the matter of a $1.4-million stimulus contract going to a Montreal engineering firm where he once worked. Housakos says he worked for a subsidiary of the firm and had absolutely no role in it winning the bid.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper was asked for comment Tuesday and replied: "You may wish to contact the ADQ since this concerns them."

Housakos's office issued a similar statement: "Mr. Taillon is the leader of the ADQ and as leader of the party, he's responsible to do as he sees fit. If he does have any concerns about any matter, he can contact the proper authorities."

Taillon said he will remain leader until a successor is chosen. But he will not run in the race, one of his associates said.

The ADQ is currently fighting for survival following internal squabbling and resignations from its already-thin caucus.

Taillon was elected after defeating Eric Caire by just two votes.

Caire and Marc Picard quit the party last week, reducing the ADQ caucus to just four in the 125-seat national assembly.

And Gerard Deltell, one of the remaing four, has also threatened to quit the party, which formed the official Opposition in 2007 before finishing a distant third behind the governing Liberals and the Parti Quebecois in last December's election.

And party president Mario Charpentier resigned this week amid reports he violated his neutrality by contributing to Taillon's leadership campaign.

Caire, in a separate news conference Tuesday, stressed that he would not be returning to the ADQ even with a new leader. He also noted that Housakos was not involved in his leadership campaign, and did not raise money for him.

A Quebec provincial police spokesman said he could neither confirm nor deny that an investigation was underway into the ADQ's financing.

But a spokesman for Quebec's chief electoral officer said if Taillon has anything to say about party financing, he should come forward.

"If Mr. Taillon has some information to give us about the financing of his party . . . he's free to come and we'll welcome him and be happy to hear what he has to say," said Denis Dion, a spokesman for the chief electoral officer.

There was more fundraising-related mud in Quebec politics Tuesday. Another resignation came just minutes after Taillon's news conference.

A new Liberal member of the legislature, Jean D'Amour, told a news conference he is leaving the party caucus pending a police investigation into a cash-stuffed envelope he received.

D'Amour, who is also party president, says the move is temporary after he contacted police investigators linked to Operation Hammer, a widespread investigation into the Quebec construction industry.

D'Amour says he was handed $500 in a brown envelope in 2007 from a contractor, and he says it was destined for another municipal politician.

But D'Amour said he returned the money and that's why he reported the incident more than two years after it happened.

D'Amour was elected to the legislature last June in a byelection called to replace former ADQ leader Mario Dumont.