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Quebec Liberal Party Leader Pablo Rodriguez announced his party is putting the Journal de Montréal on notice over an article published earlier this week.
The announcement came after the leader convened his caucus in Montreal on Friday as the party is beset by a series of crises.
The French-language daily published excerpts of alleged text messages that suggest party members were financially rewarded for voting for Rodriguez in the last leadership race.
The Journal de Montréal said it consulted messages exchanged this spring between “two individuals who were actively working to elect Mr. Rodriguez as leader.”
The alleged text messages refer to the sale of membership cards and money spent to get people to vote for Rodriguez.
Rodriguez said the intent behind the formal notice is not to uncover the newspaper’s sources but discover who was involved in the purported vote-buying scheme.
In addition to the names of those involved, Rodriguez said the party wants the telephone numbers associated with the text messages and an explanation on what the paper did prior to publication to verify the authenticity and veracity of what was alleged in the messages.
Rodriguez said Liberal MNA for Chomedey Sona Lakhoyan Olivier informed the caucus that she is also sending a formal notice to Cogeco, after her name was mentioned on a French-language radio show in connection with the allegations.
Rodriguez said Olivier reiterated her innocence, saying she was not the person who wrote the text messages.
Quebecor, which owns the Journal de Montréal, has not yet responded to a request for comment.
WATCH | Explaining the controversies:
Quebec Liberal Party crisis deepens with dual scandals escalating
What began as the dismissal of an MNA’s chief of staff and striking allegations involving the party’s leader in a news article has grown into a situation that could threaten the Quebec Liberal Party’s chances in next year’s provincial election.
Buying votes shouldn’t be legal, Legault says
Rodriguez also took a moment Friday to defend the party’s handling of the situation.
He said the first they heard of any irregularities was on Tuesday evening and they have since called for an external investigation into the matter.
According to the Election Act, however, giving someone money to influence their vote in a leadership race is not illegal.
That news came as a surprise to many, including Premier François Legault who expressed his skepticism earlier in the day on Friday.
“I was very surprised to learn that it could be legal,” he said. “If that’s the case, we won’t rule out intervening because it’s outrageous that, in 2025, they’re saying it’s legal to buy votes with $100 bills.”
Rodriguez maintained his party’s leadership contest was conducted properly.
“Like everyone else, during the last leadership contest, we were all convinced that it was illegal anyway,” Rodriguez said, “And the campaigns were conducted precisely with that in mind.”
He called on all the parties at the National Assembly to unite and quickly revise the electoral law to put an end to the practice.
More turmoil within the party
The allegations surfaced just one day after the party suffered another blow.
The Liberal Party leader suspended MNA Marwah Rizqy from the Liberal caucus and relieved her of her functions as the party’s legislative leader over the unilateral firing of her chief of staff earlier this week.
Geneviève Hinse had previously worked with Rodriguez when he was an MP in Ottawa.
Rodriguez said at the time that Rizqy should have consulted him, a position he maintained on Friday.
“I still don’t know why I wasn’t informed,” he said, adding he didn’t want to comment further as the matter seemed headed for the courts.
On Friday afternoon, Hinse filed a lawsuit in Quebec Superior Court seeking $500,000 in punitive and moral damages from Rizqy.
It comes after a back and forth of lawyers’ letters between Rizqy and Hinse.
On Wednesday, Rizqy was sent a lawyer’s letter on behalf of Hinse giving her 24 hours to acknowledge she had fired her “without grounds.”
But in a response letter obtained by Radio-Canada Friday, Rizqy’s lawyers said Hinse is “well aware of the reasons that led to the termination of her employment.”
The letter also states Hinse’s “dismissal was due to significant ethical breaches,” which were compounded by “repeated acts of insubordination.”
