QUEBEC \u2014 The Quebec Liberal Party is demanding the leader of the Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois retract and apologize for his comments linking the Liberals to organized crime or face legal action.<\/p>\n
Liberal leader Charles Milliard<\/a> upped his rebuttal against PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon<\/a> Sunday by issuing \u00a0a legal warning letter, known as a mise en demeure, calling on the PQ leader to withdraw the remarks and apologize.<\/p>\n The party gives the PQ leader 72 hours to act.<\/p>\n \u201cFailure to conform to the demands made above, within a maxium of 72 hours of receipt of this notice, will mean the Liberal Party of Quebec reserves the right to take all the appropriate legal recourse against you to validate its rights and to put an end of this attack on its its reputation,\u201d the letter states.<\/p>\n Milliard released the letter at a Montreal news conference accompanied by Liberal Party president Rafael P. Ferraro who is also a lawyer.<\/p>\n \u201cI have no problem with criticism but when people attack our reputation and that of our party and that of our membership, I am not compromising,\u201d Milliard told reporters.<\/p>\n \u201cI prefer the political game to the legal game but not to the detriment of the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n Milliard said in associating the Liberals with organized crime, St-Pierre Plamondon \u201ccrossed the line that no serious political leader should.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThese comments are irresponsible, defamatory and beneath someone who aspires to govern Quebec,\u201d Milliard said. \u201cThis time this will not pass.\u201d<\/p>\n He added St-Pierre Plamondon\u2019s comments are \u201ccompletely unfounded,\u201d because he did not provide a shred of proof linking the party to organized crime.<\/p>\n The incident was sparked Friday during the end of session news conferences held by all the leaders<\/a> as the house recessed for the summer.<\/p>\n At his news conference, held in the hall of the legislature, St-Pierre Plamondon included the allegation in his presentation of his party\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n He made the comments outside the red room of the legislature which means he is not covered by the rules of parliaementary immunity.<\/p>\n Honing in on recent ethical problems linked to the Liberal leadership campaign, St-Pierre Plamondon said until the party cleans house it is not fit to govern.<\/p>\n \u201cThey (the Liberals) did financing that is apparently illicit and they are activities that involved dozens of people,\u201d St-Pierre Plamondon said in reference to an organizer allegedly compensating supporters for donations to the Pablo Rodriguez leadership campaign.<\/p>\n The allegations are part of an investigation being conducted by Quebec\u2019s anti-corruption unit, UPAC.<\/p>\n \u201cThere have been links that have been made with a federal MP. Are there links with organized crime? What we know for certain is that there was a financing event to create an occult bank.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked to elaborate on the comment, St-Pierre Plamondon defended himself.<\/p>\n \u201cI am not a UPAC investigator but I know when UPAC investigates it\u2019s because it suspects criminal activities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Furious, the Liberals demaned a retraction which did not follow. Sunday they turned to the courts.<\/p>\n \u201cUnder my leadership, transparency and accountability will be the orders of the day,\u201d Milliard said Sunday. \u201cI will never allow anyone to tarnish the reputation of the Liberal Party of Quebec.\u201d<\/p>\n He also criticized what he said was St-Pierre Plamondon\u2019s \u201cauthoritarian style,\u201d accusing him of intellectual arrogance and of being \u201callergic to criticism.\u201d<\/p>\n But St-Pierre Plamondon is showing no signs of back peddling.<\/p>\n Even before the Liberal news conference, St-Pierre Plamondon said on social media he was sticking to his statement.<\/p>\n J\u2019ai pris acte \u00e0 travers les m\u00e9dias de la volont\u00e9 de Charles Milliard de me poursuivre pour avoir pos\u00e9 des questions l\u00e9gitimes sur la provenance des dons qui ont servi \u00e0 faire du financement illicite lors de la course \u00e0 la chefferie 2025 du PLQ. Nous en sommes \u00e0 la 4e mise en\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/tibD8S0dhs<\/a><\/p>\n