Rodriguez ‘brownie’ texts: Quebec Liberals say ex-leader now closer to being cleared, PQ not convinced

Quebec Liberals say former party leader Pablo Rodriguez is now one step closer to clearing his name following the release of an independent report into allegations of vote-buying that put the party through the wringer last fall.

The 39-page report, written by former judge Jacques Fournier, was commissioned by the Liberals following the scandal that brought down the embattled leader.

It examined text messages suggesting party members were offered $100, referred to as “brownies,” in exchange for voting for Rodriguez. Fournier concluded the messages could be fabricated, or a “montage,” but said he ultimately could not definitively rule out vote-buying.

“No evidence supporting the allegations, 14 testimonies under oath, (the report) has a certain and obvious value for us,” said Quebec Liberal interim leader Marc Tanguay.

Speaking to reporters at the National Assembly, Tanguay was pressed on the fact that the report couldn’t confirm the contrary.

He was not able to say that Rodriguez did anything wrong.

“The report proved that there’s no evidence at all supporting these allegations, and I think that it’s worth mentioning,” he said.

“In life, it’s often the case that you can’t prove the contrary.”

The Parti Québécois (PQ), however, is reserving its judgement for until after several other parallel investigations conclude — including one conducted by Quebec’s anti-corruption unit (UPAC).

“I wouldn’t buy the argument that it means that it’s not true,” said PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.

Fournier’s report focused on text messages first reported by the Journal de Montreal in November. The former judge said the messages cannot be confirmed as authentic because he never had access to the original texts.

The director of the Journal de Montréal investigative bureau, Jean-Louis Fortin, refused to provide him with the text messages “for fear that they would allow the source to be identified.”

Fournier said that he considers the reason to be “legitimate.”

“That being said, reading the excerpts of the text messages that were sent to the Journal de Montreal, and which were the subject of the November 19 article, is perplexing,” he adds.

Fournier added, however, that if there was an illegal step taken, it “had no impact on the final result” of the race.

The PQ is now challenging the Liberals to act on their confidence in their report by reinstating Rodriguez.

“They could reinstate him as a leader of the Parti Liberal du Québec. So let’s wait for that,” St-Pierre Plamondon said with a shrug. “It’s not going to happen. And that’s because there’s probably much more to it than what we know right now.”

The texts first surfaced last fall and ultimately led Rodriguez to resign as party leader in December, saying he didn’t want to become a distraction ahead of an election year.

Nothing indicates that two Quebec MNAs whose names were mentioned in connection with the allegations were involved in any way, the report found.

The Liberal MNA for Chomedey, Sona Lakhoyan Olivier, and the CAQ MNA for Fabre, Alice Abou-Khalil, were both quick to deny any involvement when their names were mentioned the day the Journal article came out.

“There is no evidence” to suggest they were involved, the report reads.

What’s next for the Liberals?

Political analyst Karim Boulos says the larger issue now is what the report means for the party’s future leadership.

He told CityNews that frontrunner Charles Milliard could inherit a party still grappling with unanswered questions and shaken public trust.

“He’ll need the time to go back to the base, reiterate the importance of changing the way things are done,” said political analyst Karim Boulos.

That uncertainty was reflected by Liberal voters CityNews spoke with on Thursday.

“Of course there’s a lack of trust,” one voter said.

Another said, “We were supporting my husband and I, the guy who is now going to be the leader, so we’re pretty happy.”

Others were more skeptical.

“I’m not sure if it’s just internal politics or if it’s an actual scandal. Either way it’s a scandal,” one person said.

“We should get it together already,” another added, before saying, “I think trust in leadership as a general rule isn’t that great in the province at the moment.”

—With files from La Presse Canadienne