At last, an inquiry into the Mafia DESPITE mounting evidence of unsavoury links between the Mafia, construction companies and politicians in Quebec, for more than two years Jean Charest, the Liberal premier of the province, resisted calls for a judicial inquiry. Instead, he ordered a police probe and created a permanent anti-corruption unit. But after the leaking in September of an explosive report from this unit detailing cost overruns totalling hundreds of millions of dollars, kickbacks and illegal donations to political parties, Mr Charest relented. On Octoberi9th he said that he had asked France Charbonneau, a superior-court judge, to probe financial ties between construction firms and political parties dating backis years. Judge Charbonneau is a tough former prosecutor. She will report to the premier; if she needs to, she can subpoena witnesses, a power Mr Charest initially denied her. Media claims of corruption have coincided with the crumbling of Quebec's roads. The collapse of a highway flyover in 2006 crushed five people. A 15-metre-long slab of concrete fell from the roof of a road tunnel in July 2011; miraculously, no commuters were hurt. Engineering reports suggest a bridge carrying 60m cars a year between the island of Montreal and suburbs on the south shore is in danger of collapsing. There may be other factors: much building was done hastily to prepare Montreal for the 1976 Olympic games, and delaying road repairs is a favourite way to cut budget deficits. But pollsters say the public tends to connect failing infrastructure with reports of corruption.
展开▼
