Mike on Crime

By THE CANADIAN PRESS

MONTREAL – The former head of a powerful construction union in Quebec is being sought on fraud and forgery charges.

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Jocelyn Dupuis for crimes allegedly committed in 2007 and 2008 while he was at the helm of the Quebec Federation of Labour’s influential construction wing.

Dupuis, 55, headed the unit for 11 years.

Dupuis, who is reportedly on vacation in Florida, is facing three charges – one each of fraud, forging documents and counselling another person to commit the forging of a document.

That alleged third offence wasn’t carried out.

Quebec provincial police declined to comment and a call to the union was not immediately returned.

The Crown alleges Dupuis defrauded the construction wing of more than $5,000 between Dec. 2, 2007, and Nov. 11, 2008.

He is also accused of producing 208 false documents related to 39 weekly expense accounts and 169 restaurant bills.

The Quebec Federation of Labour is the largest union group in the province and its construction wing represents about 70,000 workers.

Dupuis was told to leave in 2008 after it was revealed he’d managed to incur $125,000 worth of expenses in a six-month period.

News of the warrant against Dupuis comes as his former union faces allegations of intimidation and discrimination in northern Quebec.

An investigative report by Radio-Canada documented dozens of instances of heavy-handedness by a union representative and has prompted a promise by the government that an investigation is forthcoming.

This is an addition to the announcement last fall that Quebec was creating a squad called Operation Hammer to delve into allegations of corruption in the construction industry.

Opposition parties continued on Thursday to clamour for a public inquiry.

“The minister will have to call a public inquiry before we have violence on construction sites,” Francois Rebello of the Parti Quebecois said in question period.