Canadian Railroads > The election and the Lac Megantic investigation

It will be interesting to see if there's any change in the direction of the Lac Megantic investigation as a result of the election in Quebec. The Parti Quebecois, which controls the police and provincial legal system, suffered a crushing defeat. The leadership of the Provincial Police and the criminal prosecutors will likely be replaced as a new government is formed.

The Transport Safety Board is a federal agency, and won't be changed. But the PQ has been running a steady drumbeat of federal incompetence, and federal disregard for ordinary citizens in places like Lac Megantic. Failure to enforce laws, etc. In spite of some obvious local failings by the PQ on that front.

I would expect that any decision to bring provincial criminal charges will be vetted by the new government, and that will affect the civil damages claims from many victims and interests.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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. The Parti Quebecois, which controls the
> police and provincial legal system, suffered a
> crushing defeat. The leadership of the Provincial
> Police and the criminal prosecutors will likely
> be replaced as a new government is formed.
>
>> I would expect that any decision to bring
> provincial criminal charges will be vetted by the
> new government, and that will affect the civil
> damages claims from many victims and interests.

Despite some cultural and legal differences, the Government of Quebec is part of the Parliamentary system of democratic governance.

The premier is the "first among equals" selected by party members at convention. When a political party is elected, other MNA's
(Members of the National Assembly) who have been elected by popular vote are selected by the Premier to become "Cabinet Ministers", and lead the various Provincial Ministries. (Ministry of Health, Finance,Education, and so forth)

The protocol in Parliamentary democracies is supposed to be ; the Minister is a politician who changes with the Government, the Deputy Minister is a career civil servant and is supposed to be politically neutral. When a Minister is perceived by the Premier to not be doing his or her job, they can be removed. "Cabinet shuffles" are a regular feature of Parliamentary democracy.

Like the deputy minister, the civil servants within the ministry are supposed to be apolitical. For many years, civil servants in Canada were not allowed to unionise for this reason.

However, some heads of Government, both Federal and Provincial have attempted to politicise the Ministries with varying results.

Rene Levesque, the first Parti Quebecois Premier had a massive confrontation with the public employees in Quebec , and the public servants in Quebec have yet to forgive the Quebec Government for some of the actions taken under PQ leadership. Once in power, the PQ took a distinct turn to the right politically, and the social democrats were replaced by more elitist politicians.

The short answer to what I have been saying is that under Parliamentary Law and protocol, laws and policies relating to issues like the Lac Megantic disaster shouldn't change unless debated in the National Assembly.

Like parliament, the judiciary is supposed to be politically neutral. In Canada (and Quebec) judges are appointed, not elected.

As a Canadian, a former railroader and a former Quebecer, I have had cause to wonder whether the engineer on the train involved
(a working class Anglo, probably Protestant in that he started with CP) can get a fair trial in Quebec where those sitting in judgement will be ruling class Francophones

Thanks for that update.

I have no doubt that police and investigators will be sensitive to the interests of the prosecutors and superior officers in any case of this magnitude and public interest. Having the PM out of the picture will reduce that pressure on investigators to come to a "correct" conclusion.

But the matter of finding a fair and impartial jury in a case where so many forces are in play won't be easy. Assuming criminal charges are brought.

I had a discussion with someone much closer to Quebec politics than I. He said the outcome of the election was all about getting rid of Pauline Marois, the Premier and PQ leader. A strong majority of the electorate didn't like her policies and statements.
She did the honourable (and dramatic) thing and resigned as party leader when it became apparent she had lost the election.

Au revoir, Pauline.

eminence_grise Wrote:
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> I had a discussion with someone much closer to
> Quebec politics than I. He said the outcome of
> the election was all about getting rid of Pauline
> Marois, the Premier and PQ leader. A strong
> majority of the electorate didn't like her
> policies and statements.
> She did the honourable (and dramatic) thing and
> resigned as party leader when it became apparent
> she had lost the election.
>
> Au revoir, Pauline.

Losing her riding didn't help either.