Who will show up? What will be discussed in private? Will Jean Charest be invited to testify? When will this thing start? The commission of inquiry created Wednesday to look into the contract-awarding process in Quebec's construction industry has already generated more questions than answers. Premier Jean Charest named Quebec Superior Court Justice France Charbonneau to head the inquiry. She was the prosecutor who brought down Hells Angels leader Maurice (Mom) Boucher. She has wide latitude to create the specific focus and tone of the inquiry and determine how farreaching it will be, within limits. The inquiry cannot compel witnesses to testify and will not offer those who do immunity from prosecution, raising the spectre that nobody with an ounce of guilt on them will agree to talk. The inquiry has until Oct. 19, 2013, to hand in its full report. Concordia University political science professor Bruce Hicks, 50, is an expert in Canadian political institutions and a connoisseur of public inquiries at the Quebec and federal levels. When do you think the commission will get to work? I would expect that they want to leap into action and get something going within a month. The public dimension (hearings) may take longer. Will the public know who agreed to testify and who refused? That's entirely up to the discretion of the commissioner. She could decide to release a list and say "these people refused to come" and that could actually be a tactic to force their hand. That is the challenge. Historically, commissions of inquiry haven't been very effective in dealing with criminal issues. No charges came out of the Gomery inquiry (on the sponsorship scandal). All charges laid were the result of the RCMP investigation. Will the commission work hand-in-hand with UPAC, the police anti-corruption unit? I suspect UPAC will do its own thing, independently. If you were investigating this with the intent of bringing criminal charges, would you tip your hand to the bevy of lawyers who are going to be working at the commission and alert the people you're investigating about where your investigation is going? Can the inquiry get results without targeting individuals? When commissions' objectives are to look at how programs break down and how to prevent the same kinds of abuses again, that's when commissions have been excellent. All the major reorganizations of government have come from commissions. What type of person or group will be called to testify? The two large categories of people testifying in private would be 1) anybody exposed to a criminal issue, because you want to preserve their rights and, from the government's perspective, preserve the integrity of (any) police investigation and 2) whistleblowers who are afraid for their job and want to come clean about something they saw or something that happened. For the public hearings, you'll have groups from the construction industry, government officials to talk about the procurement process. It will be up to the commissioners and their staff to determine if they talk behind closed doors or in the public. Will Jean Charest be invited to testify? I would suspect no. Right now there aren't allegations that he had any involvement. The most serious allegations are that construction companies had a relationship with political parties in terms of donations. In terms of the details of procurement, the authority cabinet ministers have is delegated. Cabinet has the final say on the really big contracts but anything that's small is done at the really junior level. The minister is often the last to know.
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