Pubdate: Thu, 03 Nov 2005
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2005, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Rheal Seguin and Tu Thanh Ha

QUESTIONS ABOUT COCAINE USE CONTINUE TO DOG BOISCLAIR

Quebec and Montreal - The admission he once used cocaine continues to 
haunt Parti Quebecois leadership candidate Andre Boisclair, who 
Wednesday night was hit again with questions about his unruly past 
after an all-candidates debate.

Mr. Boisclair, the front-runner in the race to replace former leader 
Bernard Landry, said in Saguenay that he stopped using cocaine seven 
or eight years ago and that he did not obtain the illegal drug from 
someone in organized crime.

"I took the drug on a few occasions and I never had an addiction 
problem," Mr. Boisclair insisted, reiterating during the news 
conference that he regretted taking the drug.

"You have seen me in the party since I was 20 years old. ..... Have 
you at any time seen me in a situation where I was unbalanced? Have I 
ever been seen in a situation of weakness?"

Mr. Boisclair told reporters that all the rumours about his lifestyle 
were hurting the party. Asked who gave him the drug, he refused to 
say. "How does it serve the public interest for me to tell you that?" 
he responded. "I never bought any [drugs]."

He argued that his admission of using cocaine was no different than 
when Premier Jean Charest said he had smoked marijuana.

"Was the person that gave Mr. Charest marijuana in contact with 
organized crime? ..... Did Mr. Charest, who admitted smoking pot, say 
where he bought it? Come on," he said putting an abrupt end to the 
news conference and walking away from reporters.

The explanations are not likely to satisfy those in the sovereignty 
movement who are worried that Mr. Boisclair's past could lead to the 
demise of the separatist movement should he become leader after the 
Nov. 13-15 leadership vote.

This week a high profile pro-sovereignty Quebec novelist and 
television scriptwriter publicly urged Mr. Boisclair to quit the 
leadership race for the good of the party. In a letter to a Quebec 
newspaper, Victor Levy-Beaulieu said Quebecers should be reminded 
that taking cocaine is a criminal act as he expressed concerns Mr. 
Boisclair may have other skeletons in his closet.

"Can he assure me that once elected president of the Parti Quebecois, 
eventually premier and leader of a referendum campaign that no other 
skeleton will emerge from of the closet from this affair," Mr. 
Levy-Beaulieu stated in his letter.

"By electing a leader whom we are not absolutely certain is beyond 
all suspicion, the members of the Parti Quebecois, in a irresponsible 
way, exposes Quebec to a future that could go very bad."

Similar concerns were expressed by one the leadership candidates, 
Jean Ouimet who told the Montreal daily Le Devoir editorial board 
that Mr. Boisclair's past could come back and haunt the PQ should he 
be elected leader. He questioned Mr. Boisclair's judgment and 
suggested that the issue was a time bomb that could go off at any time.

"When you want to go down the road towards sovereignty you need 
someone who has good judgment. And I am not certain Mr. Boisclair has 
the proper judgment to take the right decisions given his 
experiences. And moreover he doesn't want to talk about it," Mr. 
Ouimet told the newspaper.

Mr. Boisclair's refusal to explain his drug use when he was a cabinet 
minister has created a flurry of rumours about his past. It has 
become the nub of inside jokes in Quebec's political circles.

Even the recently appointed Governor-General, Michaelle Jean, poked 
fun at Mr. Boisclair at the recent annual press gallery diner in 
Ottawa. In a speech to 600 guests that included Prime Minister Paul 
Martin, Ms. Jean read from a prepared text that guests at Rideau Hall 
will be treated to fine wine, good food and sometimes sandwiches and Coke.

"Should Andre Boisclair decide to attend it will be coke for sure!" 
Ms. Jean said in a speech that was videotaped.

"We know Mr. Boisclair always follows the party line," she added 
sniffing in jest. "He would never consider crossing the line."

Yesterday, Mr. Boisclair condemned the remarks. "Everyone who saw the 
images understands that they were out of place. Ms. Jean was at a 
public event that was televised, recorded."

Mr. Boisclair admitted in mid September he took cocaine while he was 
a cabinet minister in 1997. PQ members will choose a new leader in a 
telephone vote between Nov. 13 and 15.

The cocaine issue has created doubts about Mr. Boisclair's ability to 
win a decisive victory as projected by public opinion polls. However 
the polls surveyed the general public and not specifically the more 
than 134,000 party members who will be eligible to vote.

Last night during the debate, Pauline Marois, also considered one of 
the front-runners, attacked Mr. Boisclair's education plan contending 
that his numbers for his proposed education reform did not add up.

"You better go back and do your homework," Ms. Marois, a former 
education minister snapped at a startled Mr. Boisclair.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman