The reprimand of the National Assembly against Claude Surprenant when he was a deputy should be annulled. This is the conclusion of the former judge responsible for re-examining the reprimand formulated by the Ethics Commissioner, when he was the victim of the false allegations of a former collaborator.
• Read also: Victim of false allegations: the descent into hell of the deposed MP Claude Surprenant
“I just learned about it, I have chills. I’m happy, very happy. It’s good independent work by the retired judge,” rejoiced Claude Surprenant in an interview.
Last December, the Ethics Commissioner, Ariane Mignolet, received the mandate from the National Assembly to determine whether the “new elements” in the former CAQ elected official’s file justified a new investigation.
These “new elements” were of considerable importance. Mr. Surprenant’s former political attaché, Julie Nadeau, was sentenced in November to prison for fraud and perjury. From August 2014 to December 2015, she embezzled more than $8,000 from Mr. Surprenant’s county office to her personal account.
However, in 2017 this led to an investigation and possibly an ethical reprimand against Claude Surprenant, all on the basis of the testimony of… Julie Nadeau herself!
Ariane Mignolet therefore bowed to the wishes of parliamentarians and mandated an ad hoc commissioner, Dominique Bélanger, to look into the matter.
Cancel the reprimand
At the end of her analysis, Ms. Bélanger concludes that the “new facts” do not justify the reopening of the investigation, but she considers that they have “an impact on the recommended sanction” since they “shed a very different light from that which the commissioner at the time had on the question of the financial management of the constituency office, the credibility of Deputy Surprenant and a fortiori on the recommendation of a sanction.
The ad hoc commissioner therefore recommends that the reprimand against Claude Surprenant be simply canceled, and that the conclusion of the 2017 report be “deemed unwritten”, as well as the part of the report containing the testimony of Julie Nadeau.
It is not finished
Even if he is relieved today, Claude Surprenant emphasizes that the matter is not completely over.
“I still have to see how elected officials will position themselves on the issue. From there, I create different scenarios for what happens next,” he explains.
The former MP is currently demanding an apology from the National Assembly and financial compensation of $2 million.
“I’m not going to give up. The financial loss is real, I suffered it, and it will have to be compensated,” said Mr. Surprenant.
“But my heart is a little lighter,” he concludes.
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