Latest news with #Frenette
Montreal Gazette
13-06-2025
- Business
- Montreal Gazette
Gallant commission into SAAQclic scandal extended to Dec. 15
Quebec Politics QUEBEC — The Legault government announced Thursday that it has agreed to extend the Gallant Commission's investigation into the SAAQclic fiasco until Dec. 15, 2025. Commissioner Denis Gallant was initially scheduled to submit his final report by Sept. 30. He clearly needs more time to fulfill his mandate; testimony has been pouring in for six weeks, but it is far from over. The commission heard from several former members of the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) board of directors, former internal auditors, and a former vice-president of finance. It has not yet met with the presidents and CEOs, the project manager who was central to the digital shift, Karl Malenfant, or Legault government ministers. The SAAQ's failed digital transformation is expected to cost taxpayers at least $1.1 billion by 2027, or $500 million more than expected, according to calculations by the auditor general. The hearings, which were scheduled to end on June 20, will now resume in Montreal at the end of August. SAAQ hid costs On Thursday, former SAAQ Vice-President of Finance Yves Frenette — testifying for the third consecutive day — grudgingly acknowledged that the government corporation had hidden costs in 2022. In June 2022, Frenette was invited to review a 'placemat' intended for Ministers Éric Caire and François Bonnardel, which indicated that the cost of the digital project was $682 million. But it was actually $945 million, Frenette acknowledged Thursday, saying he wasn't surprised to see this figure in the auditor's report that sparked controversy last February. The figure presented to politicians includes the 'implementation' cost, but not the 'recurring' cost, which had been part of the original calculation. The commission's lawyer, Marie-Claude Sarrazin, then suggested to Frenette that they had stopped comparing 'apples to apples' and were instead comparing 'an apple to half an apple.' Frenette could only agree. No further details on the discussions with the ministers have been released so far. Timing 'suits the CAQ', Liberals say The official opposition in the National Assembly says it understands the need to extend the commission's work. 'Given the scope of the scandal, the mass of information, and the number of testimonies, I understand,' Quebec Liberal Party House Leader Monsef Derraji said. However, he deplored the fact that the report will not be submitted until after the end of the fall parliamentary session, when MNAs return to their ridings for the Christmas holidays. 'No debate in the Assembly or accountability before elected officials: let's be frank, that suits the CAQ government perfectly,' Derraji said. The Parti Québécois agreed. 'Premier François Legault, who wanted to move quickly, now seems much less eager to obtain the conclusions of the investigation,' MNA Joël Arseneau said. He emphasized that the testimonies have been, so far, 'damning,' the revelations 'troubling' and marked by 'suspicions of corruption.' 'We have the impression that the government took the opportunity to postpone the submission of the report until after the end of the session to avoid being held accountable before the end of 2025,' he added. Québec solidaire said Thursday that it would reserve its comments. 'Extremely dense' evidence On Thursday, commission spokesperson Joanne Marceau said it was indeed the commission that requested a two-and-a-half-month extension. In a telephone interview, she stated that investigators had received 100,000 documents and then met with 160 witnesses, 42 of whom were questioned before the commissioner. 'Our evidence is extremely dense. ... No witness is useless,' she said.
CBC
30-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Moncton manslaughter trial full of 'what ifs,' defence tells jury in closing statements
Michael Glaspy's defence lawyer told a jury there were many "holes" in the Crown's case, questioning why the victim's medical records were withheld and claiming security guards made "bad choices" during an altercation at the casino in Moncton two years ago. Gilles Lemieux delivered his closing arguments in the Moncton manslaughter trial on Friday morning. Glaspy is charged with manslaughter in the death of Frenette, who was the food and beverage manager at Casino New Brunswick. "Here you have what I've come to believe is a constellation of what ifs … of things that were either not investigated or just left hanging," Lemieux said, standing at a podium before the 12-member jury in Moncton's Court of King's Bench. Video surveillance played for the jury showed the two men getting into a struggle in the early morning hours of March 4, 2023, and Frenette hitting his head on the floor of the pub inside the casino. A pathologist previously testified Frenette died of a traumatic brain injury and a stroke 24 days later. Both the defence and the Crown reminded the jury of the evidence they've heard over the past three weeks ahead of deliberations which are set to begin Tuesday. In his roughly 45-minute statement, Lemieux began by asking the jury to imagine how the events that set off this case — the altercation between Glaspy and Frenette — could have gone differently at the Hub City Pub inside the casino. "What if Mr. Glaspy and Miss MacDonald hadn't decided to go out on that Friday night?" he pondered. Felicia MacDonald, Glaspy's fiance who was with him at the casino that night, also sat in court. "What if he wasn't quite so large? What if he just kept on walking with a coat in his hand? What if he hadn't drank so much and he had not become unstable on his feet?" Lemieux went on to question why Frenette's roughly 400-page medical records were not disclosed in court, even though Frenette signed a waiver, giving police access to them before he died. Lemieux previously used them to disclose that Frenette had fallen in the hospital on March 16. The pathologist who performed Frenette's autopsy later testified he wasn't aware of that incident. Security made 'bad choices,' defence said Lemieux said security officers working at the casino that night made "bad choices regarding the handling of somebody that should have been handled differently." "He was just drunk," he said, referring to Glaspy, who admitted during his own testimony earlier in the trial that he had too much to drink. Lemieux also pointed to surveillance footage shown to the jury that showed several casino staff members intervening in the altercation. "Where was security? They had been called three times." Lemieux ended by reminding the jury to consider any reasonable doubt in the case. "In the end, I feel certain that you'll come to the conclusion that Mr. Michael Glaspy is not guilty of manslaughter." Crown blames Glaspy for poor decisions The Crown's closing statement, which lasted about 15 minutes, focused on both Glaspy and Frenette's behaviour on March 4. "Mr. Glaspy made a deliberate decision not to leave," Crown prosecutor Marc-André Desjardins said. "Mr. Glaspy was annoyed at being told he had to leave the pub. Mr. Glaspy made the conscious decision to confront Rodney Frenette." It was an altercation that "lasted 30 seconds but forever changed multiple lives," Desjardins said to the jury, as Frenette's wife and daughter looked on from the gallery. Desjardins suggested that while Frenette can be seen shoving Glaspy first on the surveillance video, he was merely putting space between the two of them because Glaspy was "too close for comfort." "Ask yourself: does that seem like the actions of someone who wanted to fight or argue with the accused?" He finished by telling the jury they'll be responsible for determining whether Glaspy's intentions were to cause harm to Frenette. He told the 12-member jury they should consider whether Glaspy is guilty of manslaughter "or, alternatively, of aggravated assault." Justice Christa Bourque told the jury they will be brought back Tuesday, when she intends to deliver instructions on what constitutes manslaughter and how to apply the law to the evidence they've heard. Bourque said when deliberations begin, the jury will be sequestered and will stay in a hotel without their phones until deliberations are complete.
