The Unité permanente anticorruption (UPAC, en, Permanent Anticorruption Unit) is a Quebec government agency whose aim is to fight

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

, collusion and other economic crimes involving government procurement.

Background

UPAC was established by the

government of Quebec A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

on February 16, 2011, to coordinate the efforts of six teams: Opération Marteau, the contractual verification team of the

Ministry of Municipal Affairs Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

, the anti-fraud squad of Revenu Québec, the anti-collusion unit of Transports Québec, Régie du Bâtiment investigators as well as

Commission de la construction du Québec The Commission de la construction du Québec (CCQ) is responsible for the application of the laws and regulations that govern the construction industry in the province of Québec. Funded by the industry's employers and employees, the CCQ offers nu ...

inspectors. The UPAC team of over 350 people has an operating budget is $30 million. It reports to the Ministry of Public Security.

Mandate

The mandate of the UPAC is particularly focused on the construction industry. The Unit investigates offenses associated with corruption, collusion and fraud, including collusion and fraud in the awarding and execution of public contracts. They share expertise and intelligence across departments and agencies.

Past investigations

Operation Lauréat

According to a Global News report, Operation Lauréat was an investigation into the biggest corruption fraud in Canadian history, implicating SNC-Lavalin in bribery for the construction of the McGill University Health Centre. The lawyer for the MUHC, whose testimony was part of the Charbonneau inquiry into corruption in Quebec's construction industry, testified that while the contract to build the hospital complex was worth $1.3 billion, it actually totalled close to $4.6 billion when costs of managing the public-private partnership were factored in, representing an inflation of up to 20% or $934 million.

Other investigations

In late 2016, the UPAC began investigating two Montreal School Boards, the English Montreal School Board and the Lester B. Pearson School Board, over allegations of irregularities. "Project Pandore", as the investigation was called, focused on allegations of fraud, forged documents and abuse of power at the international department of Lester B. Pearson and resulted in three arrests.

References