Political interference the worst part of being a cop: Lafreniere

Parties take aim at CAQ's star candidate On the 10th day of the campaign, all parties reacted to a star candidate’s comments about political interference in the police force.

Longtime SPVM spokesperson and Coalition Avenir Quebec candidate Ian Lafreniere said the thing he hated most about his time on the police force was “political interference.”

The candidate for the Vachon riding said in an interview with TVA on Saturday that policy and police work “do not go together.”

Lafreniere didn't specify any incidents in which politics interfered with a police investigation.

Lafreniere said that if elected, he will make sure not to interfere in police affairs.

The remarks drew rapid reaction from Quebec's political sphere. Liberal candidate Marc Tanguay accused Lafreniere of undermining confidence in public institutions and questioned why he didn't denounce the interference when it occurred.

Parti Quebecois leader Jean-Francois Lisee said Lafreniere lacks credibility and called on him to provide proof of the serious allegations.

On Sunday, Lafreniere walked back his statement slightly, saying he was surprised by the vociferous reaction.

"The statement I made yesterday... I said, you know what, as a police officer, what I hate the most is political interference and I'm not about to reveal to you Watergate or something like that," he said. "It's nothing big. I was referring to the Chamberland Commission."

Lafreniere was referring to public hearings that were held after revelations two years ago that Montreal police obtained search warrants to track journalists' calls and text messages while looking for the source of leaks within the department. The commission concluded there were no clear indiciations of political interference from police.

Lafreniere also told TVA that if the CAQ wins on Oct. 1, the party will reassess the appointment of UPAC commissioner Robert Lafreniere, as well as the chiefs of the SPVM and Surete du Quebec in order to assure the right people are in the right positions. That comment, too, drew criticism, with Tanguay saying the timing of the statement was suspicious.

Last week, Quebec-anti-corruption force UPAC announced an investigation into another CAQ candidate, Eric Caine, over a $55,000 loan he took out from a mayor in his riding. CAQ leader Francois Legault defended Lafreniere while at a campaign stop in Vaudreuil, saying he was not talking about that investigation when he made his comments.

"We said since many, many months that the hoice of the boss of UPAC has to be done with a vote of two-thirds of the National Assembly," he said. "The PQ is on board with that, the only ones that aren't are Philippe Couillard and the Liberal Party."

- With files from The Canadian Press