The Bernier Fiascos & Resignation

[stegner]

Harper dismisses concern over Bernier's ex-girlfriend

Updated Thu. May. 8 2008 4:04 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Prime Minister Stephen Harper dismissed concerns Thursday pertaining to the past relationship between Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier and a woman formerly linked to the Hells Angels.

Julie Couillard, Bernier's former girlfriend, was once married to a biker and lived with another.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion and Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe want to know whether the relationship was a security risk.

On Thursday, Harper called the two opposition leaders "a group of gossipy, old busybodies."

"It's none of my business, it's none of Mr. Duceppe's business, it's none of Mr. Dion's business," he told reporters in Ottawa.

But the issue dominated business in the House of Commons, where the opposition hammered the Tories over the foreign affairs minister's past relationship, insisting it was a potential threat to national security, given his top level cabinet position.

"Questions about ministerial judgement and national security are not a private matter," said Deputy Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff. "They are everyone's business and we will raise them in this House."

Liberal MP Ralph Goodale, heartily booed by the Tories, added it's important for Canadians to know whether Couillard ever had access to ministerial documents.

Bernier defended himself in French and English, responding: "This is about my private life, the private life in the past of my ex-girlfriend -- and people's private lives are none of your business."

Harper did not stand up to defend his minister during question period, but other high-level Tories rose to criticize questions about the relationship as being nothing more than "politically motivated, personal attacks."

Recalling a statement made famous by former Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau, Government House Leader Peter Van Loan said: "The state has no place in the bedrooms of Canadians. The deputy of the Liberal Party is no Pierre Trudeau."

In her past, Couillard has been linked romantically to Gilles Giguere -- an associate of Hells Angels boss Maurice (Mom) Boucher who was murdered.

According to court documents referenced in a report in The Globe and Mail, the gang considered killing Couillard during the 1990s Quebec biker wars.

Couillard was also once married to Stephane Sirois, who belonged to the Rockers biker gang.

When asked about his ex-girlfriend's connections on Wednesday, Bernier dismissed the questions as "rumours."

In a statement to CTV on Wednesday, Couillard said: "I have no interest in talking to journalists about this. This is my private life. I'm not a politician. I didn't do anything wrong. It was a long time ago. I don't have to justify anything."

Couillard, 38, had accompanied Bernier to a cabinet swearing-in ceremony and to his speech before the UN General Assembly.

Bernier's office has confirmed that the pair recently broke up. Duceppe has signalled that the issue would be raised in the Commons on Thursday.

With files from The Canadian Press

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080508/Harper_bernier_0805

 

[PMedMoe]

Good for Harper.  Who frikkin' cares who Bernier's ex-girlfriend dated almost twenty years ago?  :

 

[Fishbone Jones]

This is the best the libs can do? They're in the sewer. Friggin' jerks.

 

[1feral1]

Good for Harper.  Who frikkin' cares who Bernier's ex-girlfriend dated almost twenty years ago?  :

Exactly.

Purely shows the desperation of the Libs.

 

[Armymedic]

Pure desperation.

Isn't there some free speech thingy they can acuse Harper of muzzling?

 

[stegner]

Who is Julie Couillard?
Paul Cherry, Montreal Gazette


In 1997, a man's love for Julie Couillard forced him to make a tough decision, choosing to marry her over his successful career as a Hells Angels drug dealer.

It was a decision Stéphane Sirois would later regret. But it also set off a chain of events that  turned him into one of the best witnesses to testify against the Hells Angels in Quebec.

Couillard has caused a storm on Parliament Hill. While recently dating Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier, the 38-year-old Laval resident drew public attention in August by wearing an eye-catching dress to the ceremony at Rideau Hall where the minister was sworn in. Now questions have been raised about her past relations with men in Quebec's murky underworld.

But there was nothing mysterious about the clear ultimatum Maurice (Mom) Boucher put to Sirois more than a decade ago.

With the biker gang war at its violent peak in 1997, the Hells Angels leader was seeing potential police informants underneath every rock.

So he wanted to be sure Sirois understood he had to make a clear choice between marrying Couillard, who had previously dated a man Boucher suspected was an informant, or continuing his life dealing drugs in Anjou and Tetreauville as a member of the Rockers,  the Hells Angels puppet gang.

Sirois chose Couillard and later came to regret it. But, as he would later testify in court, it was also a choice that ultimately turned his life around.

Sirois's marriage to Couillard lasted only two years before the couple divorced. The marriage seemed doomed from the start. Just hours before the wedding, members of the Rockers gang paid Sirois a visit and claimed he owed the gang $5,000.

Feeling that his life was in ruins, Sirois sunk into a deep depression in 1999 when he suddenly remembered the business card a police investigator gave him just after he married Couillard.

The Wolverine Squad, a collection of elite police investigators from various police forces assembled to target the province's biker gangs, knew Sirois had fallen out of favour with the Rockers by marrying Couillard and they took a chance and approached him about working for them.

"I told them clearly that I was not interested," Sirois would later say during a 2002 trial in reference to the Wolverine Squad's initial approach.

"I was already married and had been on my honeymoon. Two detectives from the Wolverine Squad approached me. I told them no. I kept their card."

Then in 1999, with his life in an mess, Sirois pulled out the business card and contacted Robert Pigeon, the investigator who gave it to him. It was the first step on a path towards becoming an undercover agent and one of the best witnesses used against the Hells Angels during the trials that followed the 2001 roundup of Boucher's monopolistic drug trafficking network. (By the time Sirois first testified Boucher had already been convicted of ordering the deaths of two provincial prison guards.)

Sirois signed a contract to work for the police in June 1999. His mission was to get back into the good graces of the Rockers by offering them his services as a drug dealer. Within months Sirois was given back his Rockers patch while he secretly recorded his conversations with fellow gang members and took careful notes on their activities.

It was Sirois who gathered perhaps the most damaging proof that the Hells Angels's Nomads chapter, run by Boucher, was seeking to kill any members of their rivals in the Rock Machine. While wearing a secret recording device called a bodypack, Sirois recorded a fellow Rocker while they dined at a Montreal sushi restaurant. When Sirois asked what it would take to impress their bosses in the Hells Angels, the Rocker revealed the biker gang was willing to pay up to $100,000 to kill off a full-fledged member of the rival gang.

Sirois would say in 2002, he rejoined the Rockers with trepidation because of Couillard. André Chouinard was the first Rocker to return Sirois's calls after he and Couillard split. Sirois testified that he felt it was necessary to clear the air about Couillard. He said he had confided a lot to her during their brief marriage and heard that she might have  betrayed those confidences as their relationship fell apart.

"The contact went well. (Chouinard) made small talk at first. After that we got on to important subjects," Sirois said.

"The important subject, firstly, was about the person I had married. There were stories she had told certain people in the milieu. I wanted to see how they had been perceived. (The Rockers) told me to forget about them. They were the stories of a slut."

"I asked André Chouinard questions about that subject in particular for several minutes. I also told him I wanted to go back to work. I wanted to go back to the (Rockers). When I married (Couillard) they told me I didn't have the right to work."

When Sirois testified at a later trial in 2003 he elaborated more on what he told Couillard when they were married. He alleged that Boucher was so suspicious of Couillard he once had a contract out on her. Sirois said Couillard went around asking people tied to the Hells Angels if this was true. 

Boucher's problem with Couillard apparently had to do with the fact she had previously dated Gilles Giguère, a close associate of Robert Savard, a notorious loanshark who operated in Montreal with Boucher's blessing.

Giguère was shot to death in April 1996 and his body was left in a ditch next to a road in L'Épiphanie. Although the slaying remains unsolved the Sûreté du Québec has long believed Giguère was killed by someone he knew.

In 1995, Giguère, Savard and lawyer Gilles Daudelin were arrested along with Couillard after the Wolverine Squad investigated alleged threats and the attempted extortion of a Montreal real estate agent.

Couillard was quickly released without being charged and reportedly filed a complaint to the provincial police ethics commissioner. According to a representative at the commissioner's office the complaint never made it to the hearing stage.

The charges against Savard, Giguère and Daudelin in the extortion case were eventually dropped. But Giguère was still in trouble.

It was later revealed in court that the Hells Angels thought Giguère turned informant while he was facing a possible trial for illegally possessing firearms and marijuana.

Sirois testified that when he started dating Couillard, shortly after Giguère's death, the relationship clearly bothered the Hells Angels. Eventually the issue was brought to Boucher.

"The choice was imposed on me by Maurice (Mom) Boucher," Sirois said during a 2002 trial.

The choice meant Sirois had to turn over his drug trafficking business to another Rocker. By his own estimate, Sirois was making between $8,000 and $12,000 in profits per month selling cocaine and marijuana for the Rockers.

pcherry@thegazette.canwest.com

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=de14a181-2738-48b1-93d6-303b815a2dfe

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Where are you trying to go with this stenger? If you have an opinion, voice it. We don't need you to post news articles. We all read the paper.
Milnet.ca Staff

 

[Rodahn]

This is the best the libs can do? They're in the sewer. Friggin' jerks.

Just a small point, but it's the Bloc that are making a big stink about this, not the Liberals.

IMO even though they may have broken up recently, the concern for a possible security breach by both party leaders is valid.

edited to clarify last statement.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Just a small point, but it's the Bloc that are making a big stink about this, not the Liberals.

IMO even though they may have broken up recently, the concern for a possible security breach by both party leaders is valid.

edited to clarify last statement.

He says "Excuse me??"

But the issue dominated business in the House of Commons, where the opposition hammered the Tories over the foreign affairs minister's past relationship, insisting it was a potential threat to national security, given his top level cabinet position.

"Questions about ministerial judgement and national security are not a private matter," said Deputy Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff. "They are everyone's business and we will raise them in this House."

Liberal MP Ralph Goodale, heartily booed by the Tories, added it's important for Canadians to know whether Couillard ever had access to ministerial documents.

 

[stegner]

Where are you trying to go with this stenger? If you have an opinion, voice it. We don't need you to post news articles. We all read the paper.
Milnet.ca Staff

Just thought this was a good article from the Montreal Gazette.  Though I think Rodhan has made the superior argument,

the concern for a possible security breach by both party leaders is valid.

Having someone who once associated with, was married to and dated organized crime figures  is not a good choice for a 'spouse' of a cabinet minister no matter how good looking she is (and she is spectular).   Bernier needs to let his brain rather than other parts of the body do his thinking for him.  

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Just thought this was a good article from the Montreal Gazette.  Though I think Rodhan has made the superior argument,
Having someone who once associated, was married to and dated organized crime figures as a girlfriend is not a good choice for a girlfriend of a cabinet minister no matter how good looking she is (and she is spectular).   Bernier needs to let his brain rather than other parts of the body doing his thinking for him.  

It's not superior, and it's not even an arguement. It's only an opinion, and like assholes, everyone has one.

Bernier is no longer with her, and if we went back twenty years on everyone in parliment we'd likely find dirt on just about all of them. We've been over all this in other threads about them trying to make hay when it's raining. The opposition parties don't seem to be any better with the PR than they are at farming. This is just the desperate whining of desperate people. Turkeys to stupid to stop looking up in a rainstorm.

 

[PMedMoe]

Here's a better article from The National Post
Emphasis mine.

I’m trying to figure out why Maxime Bernier’s former girlfriend and her previous romantic relationships are being treated as a matter of vital importance. Or of any importance at all.

Julie Couillard is an attractive woman who first drew public interest when she wore a low-cut dress to Mr. Bernier’s swearing-in as foreign minister. Word is he got a bit of a talking-to from the PMO for that little indiscretion — the Harper Tories are conservative in dress sense as well as in policies.

That’s about the only glimpse we had of her until Thursday, when it was revealed — pause for collective intake of breath — that some years ago she was entangled with various members of Quebec biker gangs.

My word. Quebec bikers aren’t known as sweet people and it’s understandable some people would leap to the conclusion that anyone who became deeply involved with gang members might share their contempt for the law, not to mention other people’s lives, and therefore be the sort of person cabinet ministers shouldn’t be intimate with.

Ms. Couillard certainly was involved. She was a girlfriend of a biker named Gilles Giguere, who was about to face trial on drugs and weapons charges when he turned up dead in a ditch. After Mr. Giguere’s unfortunate demise she married Stéphane Sirois, a member of a biker group known as The Rockers. Mr. Sirois once told a court that a Quebec crime kingpin suspected Ms. Couillard of being friendly with police and ordered an end to the relationship; he might even have ordered her murdered. The murder never took place, obviously, and the marriage ended in divorce in 1999.

Pretty colourful stuff, no doubt about that. But what’s it got to do with Mr. Bernier? Ms. Couillard has no criminal record and divorced her biker spouse nine years ago. Is there a law against dating someone with a slightly racey past?

The excuse the Liberals used to justify devoting much of Thursday’s Question Period to Mr. Bernier’s love life was the possibility it represented a security threat. Stéphane Dion wasn’t there, so Michael Ignatieff had to act indignant and self-righteous in his place.  ;D

More on article link.

 

[Rodahn]

Here's a better article from The National Post
Emphasis mine.

I’m trying to figure out why Maxime Bernier’s former girlfriend and her previous romantic relationships are being treated as a matter of vital importance. Or of any importance at all.

Julie Couillard is an attractive woman who first drew public interest when she wore a low-cut dress to Mr. Bernier’s swearing-in as foreign minister. Word is he got a bit of a talking-to from the PMO for that little indiscretion — the Harper Tories are conservative in dress sense as well as in policies.

That’s about the only glimpse we had of her until Thursday, when it was revealed — pause for collective intake of breath — that some years ago she was entangled with various members of Quebec biker gangs.

My word. Quebec bikers aren’t known as sweet people and it’s understandable some people would leap to the conclusion that anyone who became deeply involved with gang members might share their contempt for the law, not to mention other people’s lives, and therefore be the sort of person cabinet ministers shouldn’t be intimate with.

Ms. Couillard certainly was involved. She was a girlfriend of a biker named Gilles Giguere, who was about to face trial on drugs and weapons charges when he turned up dead in a ditch. After Mr. Giguere’s unfortunate demise she married Stéphane Sirois, a member of a biker group known as The Rockers. Mr. Sirois once told a court that a Quebec crime kingpin suspected Ms. Couillard of being friendly with police and ordered an end to the relationship; he might even have ordered her murdered. The murder never took place, obviously, and the marriage ended in divorce in 1999.

Pretty colourful stuff, no doubt about that. But what’s it got to do with Mr. Bernier? Ms. Couillard has no criminal record and divorced her biker spouse nine years ago. Is there a law against dating someone with a slightly racey past?

The excuse the Liberals used to justify devoting much of Thursday’s Question Period to Mr. Bernier’s love life was the possibility it represented a security threat. Stéphane Dion wasn’t there, so Michael Ignatieff had to act indignant and self-righteous in his place.  ;D

More on article link.

More from the same article...

Similar stuff came from other MPs, all spouting the same po-faced drivel about Canada’s “security” and the possibility that Mr. Bernier might have put it in danger.

Therefore it was obviously not just the Liberals..... However I doubt that neo conservatives would admit such.....

 

[stegner]

Well the Conservatives have claimed that Stephane Dion being a French citizen makes him a security threat so this does too.  Just because Julie divorced this guy nine years ago and broke up with another biker after that does not mean she gave up all contacts with bikers.  Does she still have contact with them?  Good question.  Too bad that was never investigated or checked out given this lady had lots of access to Mr. Bernier.  Heck she has been to Afghanistan with him.   Mr. Bernier knows stuff that most of us will never ever find out about.   His permission is needed for the deployment of the CF outside of Canada and he knows some really really sensitive stuff about the CF too.  Therefore, the state has a place in the bedroom of the nation to ascertain if someone is divulging state secrets during pillow talk.  Gerda Munsinger anyone? This was not merely about Bernier's love life.  Noone asked how often he did it with her and in what positions.  They asked whether or not she had been checked out to make sure she was not a security threat.   This is something that should be done for all Cabinet Minister's and even members of the Opposition who are members of the Privy Council.    

Btw the military police place outlaw bikers as a high security risk to the Canadian Forces and DND property within Canada.

 

[George Wallace]

Security!   :

Just who was the Government in power who came up with the "Open Base Policy"?

:

Having lived on a wide range of different CF Bases and Stations across Canada, and in Europe, Canadians on a whole have absolutely NO CONCEPT of SECURITY.  This is the Loyal Opposition wasting your and my Tax Dollars in a friggin useless round of accusations in the House.

Security in Canada is a joke.    :

 

[Rodahn]

Bernier is no longer with her, and if we went back twenty years on everyone in parliment we'd likely find dirt on just about all of them.

Whether he is with her or not is not the issue. The issue here is whether there is a possible breach of security. Minister's of the government should be held to a higher standard than regular MP's. Just as members of the military, judiciary, law enforcement, et al (I hope) by nature of their positions hold themselves or are held to a higher standard than the rest of the populace.

I agree with the premise that there is likely dirt on just about all people (not just members of parliment) if we went back "X" number of years....

 

[stegner]

Mr. Wallace is right about security.  Though, I disagree on his criticism of the opposition.  I think this incident proves his point precisely-nobody checks out who has access to minister's who are privy to the nation's most secret secrets.   

Open Base Policy

Though this has its limits you can walk around a base but you can't for instance walk into an ammo depot or any other sensitive spot and nose around.  I suspect, however, you would be able to find far more useful info in Mr. Bernier's briefcase than from walking aound a CF base I would think.   For that matter you can find out much more info in the Rideau Mall in Ottawa from Officer's from NDHQ that don't seem to get the fact that speaking loudly about sensitive matters is not a good idea, especially in a town crawling with foreign operatives (i.e. China & Russia).   

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Only my opinion of course, but I think it's time some people went shopping :
http://zapatopi.net/afdb/

 

[Rodahn]

Only my opinion of course, but I think it's time some people went shopping :
http://zapatopi.net/afdb/

And I don't believe that the above was warranted, in this discussion.

 

[stegner]

Only my opinion of course, but I think it's time some people went shopping
http://zapatopi.net/afdb/

I am not sure of your point or if you are you are asking me to buy tin foil hats.  Are you denying that foreign intelligence operatives (i.e. Chinese & Russian) operate in Canada?