An investigation with serious consequences for a former senior manager of the SQ has fallen into limbo
Published at 6:00 a.m.
The Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit (UPAC) put on ice for more than eight years, without ever reactivating it, a criminal investigation targeting a former commander of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) who was forced into retirement for unexplained expenses of…$189.
“I can’t believe the testimony [que j’ai entendu]I tell you, I can’t believe it,” commented judge Marc St-Pierre, after hearing the former director of operations of UPAC André Boulanger explain the circumstances in which this investigation targeting the former senior executive Jean Cowan was placed on hold in 2016.
Mr. Cowan, former director of the Capitale-Nationale district, says he is the victim of “disguised dismissal” in this affair linked to golf games, restaurant meals and other low-value gifts offered to 18 high-ranking officers rank of the SQ by a former account manager of Bell Canada, in the early 2000s. Bell Canada was then a service provider for the SQ.
UPAC considered Mr. Cowan a “suspect” of fraud and breach of trust towards the government for having allegedly benefited from these advantages, offered as part of fairly usual business practices at the time. The Code of Ethics of Quebec police officers prohibits them from receiving any form of donation, reward or gift “likely to compromise [leur] impartiality”.
Mr. Cowan is demanding 1.6 million from the SQ and $250,000 from UPAC for these “unfounded allegations of corruption” which forced him to retire “like a pariah” after 38 years of service.
After almost five years of legal proceedings, UPAC finally admitted, last June, that the investigation against it was “put on hold” from the fall of 2016, never to be reactivated thereafter.
The reason: the Serious Crime Office of the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) feared that the UPAC investigation would hinder a trial targeting the former big boss of the SQ Richard Deschesnes and two ex-members of the staff, accused of having delved into the secret expenses of operations to improve retirements. An inspector who was “potentially” targeted by the UPAC investigation was also to act as a key witness in this trial. UPAC’s actions risked complicating the disclosure of evidence, to the point where an acquittal under the Jordan ruling would have become possible, André Boulanger testified last June.
“Still pending”
Richard Deschesnes and the two co-defendants from the staff ended up being acquitted (in November 2021), but the UPAC investigation targeting Jean Cowan and the 17 other police officers was never subsequently relaunched .
“It’s still pending,” said Mr. Boulanger.
Judge Marc St-Pierre affirmed that these delays were “unacceptable” and constituted, at first glance, “more than a fault on the part of UPAC”.
UPAC and Mr. Cowan refused to comment, due to the legalization of the case.
The allegations of fraud against Mr. Cowan amount, according to his lawsuit, to reimbursements of expenses totaling $189.10, which the former director of Bell Canada was also reimbursed for his part by his own employer, between 2008 and 2015, according to a comparison of expense reports made by the SQ.
Covertly, the magistrate invited the Attorney General of Quebec, who represents the Sûreté du Québec and UPAC, to reach an amicable agreement with Jean Cowan, a “solution to the advantage of everyone”, he argued.
“Of course the lawsuit is huge, but that doesn’t mean the judge would award $1,600,000 [à M. Cowan]. Maybe we should remove a number [un zéro] in the end, maybe it would be more realistic,” he suggested to them.
