'When will it stop?': former SQ director was frustrated by media leaks
Mario Laprise tells Chamberland inquiry the leak of wiretaps was a crime that had to be investigated
The former head of the Quebec provincial police, Mario Laprise, said he was so worried about the number of leaks to the media, he decided to relaunch an internal affairs investigation into how confidential information was getting into the hands of journalists.
Testifying at the Chamberland inquiry into police surveillance of journalists Thursday, Laprise said the final straw was the on-air revelation in 2013 that morning radio host Paul Arcand had wiretap conversations police had obtained during the course of an investigation.
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Laprise, who ran the Sureté du Québec from 2012 to 2014, told the inquiry the leak was a crime — a clear violation of Article 193 of Canada's Criminal Code.
"You don't have the right to divulge or use wiretaps that were obtained through a court warrant approved by a judge. It was very worrisome," he testified, explaining why he felt the SQ had to investigate.
"I told my team ... when will it stop?"
Laprise specified the investigation was not a "witch hunt," and while he tried to communicate that to the media, he said he felt an urgent need to stop the leaks.
The wiretaps were the conversations of Michel Arsenault, the former president of the FTQ, Quebec's largest labour federation, recorded in the course of an investigation that did not lead to charges against the union leader.
'I was outraged'
Arsenault, who testified before the inquiry Thursday morning, expressed his disgust at the fact journalists were able to find out what was said in his personal calls.
"I was outraged," Arsenault testified. "For a police force to listen to calls is understandable. But to hand them over to journalists? ... I find it highly contemptible. These are the methods of Mussolini or the KGB."
Arsenault was so upset he contacted Quebec's public security minister at the time to ask for a complete investigation into how the tapes made it into journalists' hands.
Laprise told the inquiry that request was not what led to the investigation into police leaks. According to his testimony, the investigation had already been launched days earlier.
It was during the course of the same internal investigation, nearly a year after it was launched, that the SQ obtained court warrants to retroactively track the cellphone records of six prominent investigative journalists, including Radio-Canada's Alain Gravel, Marie-Maude Denis and Isabelle Richer.
Laprise's testimony didn't explore what led police to apply to a judge for the warrants, nor why morning show host Paul Arcand was not among the journalists whose cellphone records were monitored.
The inquiry will hear from more high-level Sureté du Québec officials in the coming days.
Two journalists, La Presse's Patrick Lagacé and Radio-Canada's Marie-Maude Denis are also set to testify at the end of next week.