As UPAC gets involved in Quebec Liberal Party fiasco, Pablo Rodriguez defends political track record

Pablo Rodriguez is defending his party and his own track political record as the crisis deepens within the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ).

UPAC, Quebec’s anti-corruption police, is looking into the internal crisis shaking the provincial party. Though it’s not clear what UPAC is looking into specifically, its the latest development in a series of twists and turns that include the dismissal of Geneviève Hinse, suspension of Marwah Rizqy, a hefty lawsuit, and vote-for-cash allegations.

“From what I understand about UPAC right now, they have information and they are currently validating it to determine whether it warrants further investigation or not, whether it warrants launching an inquiry, and that tells me they are doing their job, doing an analytical job as they should,” said André Fortin, the Liberals’ new parliamentary leeder.

The fiasco has put Rodriguez on the backfoot, with the new leader defending himself and his party on Thursday.

“You know, I have a career that speaks for itself,” Rodriguez told reporters. “I won those elections. I’ve been a minister in some of the biggest cabinets, and I’ve always done things with integrity and uprightness. Always.”

He also defended the Quebec Liberal Party as a political organization with a rich history in the province.

“The Liberal Party, as I said, is a party of the economy. It’s the party of social justice. That is to say, creating wealth, to be there for Quebecers,” Rodriguez said. “That’s what we’ve always been, that’s what we need to reiterate to Quebecers, and build that bond of trust by talking to them about what I’m doing all the time.”

Rodriguez dismissed the recent jabs from political opponents like Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, who accused the Liberals of being synonymous with corruption.

“The Quebec Liberal Party is the oldest political institution that was there for women’s suffrage. The fact that French is the official language of Quebec, it’s the Quebec Liberal Party. It’s the Ministry of Culture, it’s the Ministry of Education, it’s Hydro-Québec. That’s the Quebec Liberal Party.”

Quebecers have negative view of Rodriguez: poll

UPAC’s involvement comes as a new opinion poll conducted by Pallas Data for QC-125 and L’actualité revealed that 56 per cent of respondents have a negative impression of Rodriguez, compared to just 13 per cent who share a positive opinion of him.

The poll also revealed the Parti Québécois is still ahead in voter intentions with 36 per cent support. The Quebec Liberal Party was second with 25 per cent.

“Mr. Rodriguez in the last six months had started to rebuild and give new life to a flailing Liberal party,” political analyst Karim Boulos said. “And in a very short time, people have lost confidence thinking maybe he’s not all that we thought he was.”

With the recent turmoil within the party, some are now questioning Rodriguez’s ability to lead the Liberals into the next Quebec provincial election in October 2026.

“The Liberals are going to need a new leader,” Montrealer Arthur Hiess told CityNews. “They’ve got one year and they better reorganize themselves. Otherwise, they’ll be dead ducks in the next election. They’re in deep trouble electorally. Pablo Rodriguez is just a reflection.”

“Well, I think it’s an unfortunate choice of leader,” stated Bruce Russell. “I think we’ll wait for the investigation to find out whether this is really unusual or bad behavior.”

“Give him a chance,” countered Carole Huggins. “He hasn’t been able to do anything yet. He hasn’t had the time to do anything much.”

“Honestly, what other options do we have as our community and people who are not supporting the other political parties?” asked Steve Beckett.

How did we get here?

The PLQ has been in crisis since MNA and then-parliamentary leader Marwah Rizqy dismissed her chief of staff, Geneviève Hinse, a close associate of Rodriguez, without consulting him beforehand.

The Liberal leader then removed Rizqy from her position as parliamentary leader and suspended her from the caucus, citing a “breach of trust.”

Last week, Hinse’s lawyer demanded that Rizqy publicly admit within 24 hours that there was no justification for his client’s dismissal.

The MNA for Saint-Laurent instead sent a letter to Hinse stating that she was dismissed “due to serious ethical breaches” and for “repeated acts of insubordination.”

Hinse filed a $500,000 lawsuit against Rizqy.

On Sunday, Rizqy wrote on Facebook that she could not comment publicly, as it was a human resources matter. The MNA also stated that she is “more than aware” that this situation has placed her “political family in a delicate position.”

Rodriguez indicated on Wednesday that he still does not know why Rizqy dismissed her chief of staff. On Thursday, he would not confirm if he has spoken to Rizqy. He said he did not know if she’s the one who contacted UPAC.

Rizqy reportedly met with UPAC, according to TVA Nouvelles.

“Marwah Rizqy, on her integrity, has never been called into question,” said political analyst Karim Boulos. “I think she’s a very professional member of the National Assembly. She’s quite knowledgeable. She’s a lawyer. She understands how the legal system works. For her to think that there’s enough cause to go as far as speaking to UPAC means that there’s something going on beneath the surface that nobody is yet aware of. And possibly Mr. Rodriguez may be unaware of certain goings on in his own party.

“Just being accused of some form of collusion, corruption, or wrongdoing within the party is a very serious allegation.”

Disturbing text messages

Adding to the complexity of the story is an article in the Journal de Montréal revealing text messages suggesting that members who supported Rodriguez during the Quebec Liberal leadership race received cash rewards. The individuals who sent these text messages are not named in the article.

The Liberal leader announced on Friday that his party would be issuing a formal notice to the Journal de Montréal regarding the article. Rodriguez said he wants to know the names of the people involved and the phone numbers associated with the text messages. He also wants the media outlet to explain how it verified the “authenticity and veracity” of these messages.

“But I see absolutely no connection with Ms. Hinse’s dismissal,” the party leader said. “Looking at Ms. Rizqy’s very detailed memo, I don’t see the link. Ms. Rizqy will explain herself to UPAC, and we will cooperate.”

On Wednesday, Rodriguez said federal Liberal MP Fayçal El-Khoury solicited donations for his leadership campaign. However, El-Khoury had previously denied any involvement in the race.

La Presse has reported that a conversation between El-Khoury and Rizqy on Nov. 14 has caught the attention of Élections Québec due to a possible link to Rodriguez’s leadership bid.

Rizqy was dismissed three days after that conversation.

In addition to UPAC determining if an anti-corruption investigation is necessary, other investigations have already been launched by Élections Québéc and an external one commissioned by the PLQ. Rodriguez was unsure Thursday if that external investigation has yet to begin.

–With files from The Canadian Press and Gareth Madoc-Jones