5 things to know about spat between Guy Ouellette and anti-corruption unit

MONTREAL – Guy Ouellette, a member of the Quebec legislature since 2007, is at the heart of a complicated dispute with UPAC, the province’s anti-corruption unit, which arrested him Oct. 25 and then released him.

Some facts:

WHO: Ouellette is a former longtime Quebec provincial police officer who ran for the Liberals under Jean Charest in the 2007 election. He won the riding of Chomedey and was re-elected in 2008, 2012 and 2014. Until his resignation from the Liberal caucus last week, he was also head of a legislature committee that oversaw UPAC’s activities and conduct.

WHAT: The anti-corruption unit is known as UPAC, its French-language acronym (Unite permanente anticorruption). It was created by Charest in 2011 amid allegations of corruption in Quebec’s construction industry and the alleged illegal financing of political parties.

UPAC’S VIEW: It says it arrested Ouellette as part of its investigation into a leak from within its own organization last April that revealed it had been looking at the comings and goings of ex-premier Charest and Liberal fundraiser Marc Bibeau up until 2016.

OUELLETTE’S VIEW: He accuses UPAC of trying to intimidate him and other members of the legislature who might challenge its commissioner, Robert Lafreniere.

QUOTE: “I have always been, still am and always will be an ardent defender of social justice, of democratic values, of freedom of expression and of the truth.” — Ouellette in the national assembly Tuesday.