Photographers take pictures of Chairman France Charbonneau off the closed circuit television in the media room at the Charbonneau inquiry looking into corruption in the Quebec construction industry Monday;September 17;2012 in Montreal.
Photo Credit: Ryan Remiorz , THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL – A stern warning and the conspicuous absence of a certain former FBI agent marked the first day back to work for Quebec's Charbonneau Commission hearings on Monday morning.
Reports last week that Joseph Pistone, aka Donnie Brasco, could be taking the stand right away when the hearings resumed after a three-month hiatus proved to be unfounded, and the crush of reporters, cameramen and photographers waiting anxiously for him to emerge from the elevators outside the hearing room walked away disappointed.
What they got instead was a stern but polite reminder from Superior Court Justice France Charbonneau that she frowns upon any reporting of a witness's name in the media prior to his or her appearance before her, no matter where the information comes from.
"Publishing in advance the name of a person who you have heard will be testifying … can hamper investigations considerably," Charbonneau said, peering over the top of her glasses as she addressed the room.
It's unclear if the leaking of Pistone's name and the supposed date of his testimony will have any effect on the commission's work.
Commission lawyer Sonia Lebel told Charbonneau and her co-commissioner Renaud Lachance that they would be hearing from several witnesses over the next few weeks as the hearings begin delving into the world of organized crime.
Among the experts to appear are a police officer from York, Ont., who specializes in biker gangs, and Italian scholar Valentina Tenti, who is considered an expert on the Mafia.
"(Tenti) will testify in English about the infiltration of organized crime in Italy's construction industry," explained Lebel.
The rest of Monday morning was taken up by procedural matters, with documents being entered into evidence and lawyers for the commission explaining what had been accomplished over the summer.
Among other things, Charbonneau's team has been probing the books in various municipalities across the province, most notably those of Laval and Montreal.
Midway through the morning, the commission began hearing from the first witness of the new session, economist and scholar Louis Delagrave.
The author of a book on the history of labour relations in Quebec's construction industry, Delagrave took the commissioners through the current laws pertaining to labour relations in the province and the list of unions currently representing the 100,000 unionized workers in the industry.
The Charbonneau Commission has been tasked with uncovering corruption and collusion in Quebec's construction industry and any links between those schemes and the funding of political parties in the province.
Charbonneau other co-commissioner, McGill law professor Roderick Macdonald, was again absent on Monday due to an illness.
He has yet to attend any of the hearings in person, but Charbonneau maintained that he is following the proceedings closely at home.
© Postmedia News, 2012
17 Sep, 2012
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Source: http://www.globalnews.ca/Canada/absence+of+former+fbi+agent+marks+re-launch+of+quebecs+corruption+inquiry/6442716686/story.html
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