Accused of sexual assault, Rimouski MNA Harold LeBel is back at the National Assembly.
He had not set foot in parliament since mid-December 2020, when it was learned he was facing a sexual assault charge, in connection with events that occurred in October 2017.
On Wednesday, he stood in the National Assembly to comment on the 2022-2023 budget speech tabled by Finance Minister Eric Girard the week before. In his statement, he defended vulnerable seniors and called for, among other things, a summit to better care for them amid an accelerating aging population.
He was arrested by the Sûreté du Québec on Dec. 15, 2020 and charged with sexual assault. The alleged victim also worked in politics, but his identity cannot be disclosed, by court order. No identifying information can be released.
The 59-year-old MNA is still awaiting trial, which is expected to take place this fall. He has always proclaimed his innocence and has chosen a trial by judge and jury. He will be back in court on April 4 to find out when his trial will begin.
A lifelong sovereignist activist, elected under the PQ banner in 2014 and re-elected in 2018, LeBel was kicked out of the Parti Québécois (PQ) caucus by its leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon as soon as the accusation became public. He has since sat as an independent MNA, focusing primarily on his grassroots work in his riding, away from parliament.
He announced in early March that he would not be a candidate in the upcoming Oct. 3 election, given that the election campaign is likely to take place at the same time as his trial.
“This also forces me to make the decision to renounce my desire to ask the population for a third mandate as a member of the National Assembly for Rimouski, an office that is so precious to me, so dear to me. I will not be a candidate in the next general election in Quebec and I am deeply disappointed. Let me be clear: there is no link between this decision and a potential presumption as to the outcome of this affair,” he declared on March 3, announcing, reluctantly, that he would put an end to his political career at the end of the present mandate.
Nothing prevents an elected official from sitting in the National Assembly even if he or she is facing criminal charges. Until the end of the parliamentary session on June 10, he will be entitled to three questions and one statement in the National Assembly per cycle of 10 sessions.
He did not respond to a request for an interview.
– This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 30, 2022