Former Quebec Liberal leader Pablo Rodriguez is breaking his silence since an alleged vote-buying scandal led to his resignation and damaged the party’s reputation. In an exclusive interview with Noovo Info, he defended his integrity and said that his professional life “has been destroyed.” “People wanted to harm me and, clearly, it worked,” he said Tuesday in his first major interview since the scandal, which aired on Crave. His comments came on the same day that La Presse reported that Quebec’s anti-corruption police, L’Unité permanente anticorruption (UPAC), and Elections Quebec determined there is no proof that Rodriguez had any links to a scheme to buy votes. The information was later confirmed by Noovo Info. Last year, the Journal de Montréal published text messages suggesting some Quebec Liberal Party members who voted for Rodriguez during the leadership race were rewarded with cash – specifically $100 bills, referred to colloquially as “brownies.” UPAC investigators reportedly think the messages published in the Journal de Montréal may have been part of a setup created to hurt Rodriguez. He said he and his family paid the price after the allegations surfaced. “I wouldn’t wish this on anyone—not a single person—even though I was leader of the Quebec Liberal Party,” he said, adding that the allegations were “based on absolutely nothing.” “This must never happen again in our democracy,” he said. He also denied authorizing any vote-buying scheme during the leadership run and says he participated as a witness in the UPAC investigation in a bid to clear his name. “I kept pressing them because it was important to me that they have this part of the truth, that they reach a quick conclusion,” he said. “And from what I understand today, after speaking with the investigators, they’ve come to the conclusion that there were never any ‘brownies,’ and therefore never any vote-buying strategy.” Speaking at a morning news conference, leader Charles Milliard addressed the revelations in La Presse and said there needs to be “a collective reflection in Quebec about what happened over the past year.” The UPAC and Elections Quebec investigations are nearly complete, according to La Presse. Rodriguez is not the only party member to lose his spot on the Liberal team. MNA Sona Lakhoyan Olivier was reprimanded by the National Assembly ethics commissioner for conducting partisan activities during the Quebec Liberal Party (QLP) leadership race in her constituency office. The MNA also obstructed the commissioner’s work. She was also stripped of her party membership card and told to pay a $8,000 fine for the ethics breach. With files from Noovo Info and CTV News’ Maya Johnson
