Quebec Transport Minister Michel Després is refusing to quit after he was accused of neglecting a decayed Laval overpass that collapsed last fall, killing five people.
Després said he has no intention of resigning despite repeated demands by ADQ Leader Mario Dumont, who has led a day-long charge against the Liberal government over its handling of the September 2006 Concorde overpass disaster.
Dumont continued an attack he launched during the Quebec leaders' debate Tuesday night, when he confronted Premier Jean Charest with an internal memo from the transport department that he said proved the Liberal government knew about structural problems with the Highway 19 overpass.
Dumont accused the Liberal leader of covering up the information, and later asked that Després step down.
On Wednesday, Després said Dumont missed the point of the memo, which indicated there were cracks and fissures in the overpass, but they didn't require immediate attention.
Deprés accused Dumont of exploiting a tragedy for electioneering purposes, a counterattack echoed by Charest, who noted a provincial inquiry into the collapse is underway. He dismissed the ADQ leader's tactic as showing poor form.
"I don't think Mr. Dumont has credibility with the population, and by doing what he did in a leaders' debate, it is not up to par," the Liberal leader said.
Dumont drops a debate bomb
In mid-debate Tuesday night, Dumont brandished the note, dated June 17, 2004, in which Transport Quebec engineer Gilbert Bossé reported the overpass north of Montreal "shows problems with its foundations … during general inspections, damage was seen and deserves special attention."
After a review the next year, bridge foundation degradation was noted by engineer Christian Mercier, who reported that "according to our observations, we don't believe it is necessary to proceed with a more detailed inspection," adding that repairs weren't warranted until there was more evidence of damage.
After the debate, both his opponents accused Dumont of using the tragedy for political gain, but he didn't relent. On Wednesday morning, the ADQ leader relaunched his accusations in a hastily called press conference in Quebec City.
"The government knew of the existence of a particular problem with the Concorde overpass," he said.
Dumont said a public inquiry into the collapse does not abdicate Charest's responsibility as premier.
"If we judge by [his] face last night, the documents are making the government incredibly uncomfortable."
'I have no idea what he's talking about'
During the Tuesday debate, Jean Charest was quick to dismiss Dumont's accusations, saying he knew nothing about the documents, contrary to what the ADQ leader said.
"That's a lie. I have no information. I have no idea what he's talking about," Charest said.
Charest accused Dumont of irresponsibility and wondered why he would sit on pertinent documents when a provincial commission is investigating the collapse.
"People died in that incident, and he withheld information deliberately for a debate in an incident where people lost their lives. Now doesn't that say something about him?"
Pierre-Marc Johnson, the former PQ premier who is heading the overpass collapse investigation, issued a communiqué late Tuesday night encouraging people to hand over any relevant documents on the Concorde span.
With files from the Canadian PressRelated
| Party | Elected | Leading | Total | Vote Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LIB | 48 | 0 | 48 | 33.08% |
| ADQ | 41 | 0 | 41 | 30.80% |
| PQ | 36 | 0 | 36 | 28.32% |
| QS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.65% |
| GRN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.89% |
| OTH | 0 | 0 | 0 | .26% |
| Last Update:March 27, 12:52:21 AM EDT | ||||
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