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March 6, 1911

QUESTION OF PRIVILEGE.-CHARGES AGAINST THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT SHIPYARD AT SOREL AND THE MEMBER FOR RICHELIEU.

CON

Pierre Édouard Blondin

Conservative (1867-1942)
Member File Biography @ PARLINFO

Mr. P. E. BLONDIN (Champlain).

(Translation.) Mr. Speaker, I rise to a question of privilege to present the motion of which notice has been given two days ago to the hon. Minister of Marine and Fisheries (Mr. Brodeur) and to the hon. member for Richelieu.

Neither the hon. minister nor the hon. member will be surprised at my mov". because they already know since a long time the facts which I will communicate to the House.

I would have been particularly grateful to them if, during the long months that have elapsed since, they had undertaken, themselves, as is was proper, to avenge the honour of the minister and the reputation of the member. But they

have done nothing. They have kept about the whole thing a very long silence which I would dare to qualify as incriminating. I for one cannot allow this silence to last longer without feeling myself as conniving, or at least as.failing seriously in my duty as a member of this House.

I shall read in English the declaration and the motion, and with your permission, Mr. Speaker, I shall read in French, in their original form, the affidavits which have been given me. I have 'added also, since the notice I have given, the years 1908 and 1909 to the year 1910, because new affidavits have come to me.

I, Pierre Edouard Blondin, a member of Parliament for the electoral district of Champlain, in the province of Quebec, Dominion of Canada, declare that I am credibly informed, and I believe that I can establish by satisfactory evidence:

10. That in the course of the years 1908, 1909 and 1910, irregularities, abuses, frauds, malversations and robberies have been committed in the shops and stores of the government of Canada at St. Joseph of Sorel and in the city of Sorel, in the electoral district of Richelieu;

20. That barrels aud tins of paint and other goods of this nature have been illegally and fraudulently taken and carried away from the said stores and shops and transported to the house of Mr. Adelard Lanctot then and now a member of the House of Commons of Canada, for the electoral district of _ Richelieu, which house was then being built on George street, at Sorel above mentioned, and ready to be painted;

30. That with these goods and paint, paint-works, decoration and varnish works, have been done by the employees of the government of Canada under the supervision of the painters' foreman employed by said government at the said jilace, at the government's expense and during the hours supposed to be devoted to the government and for which said employees were paid by the government, these men registering each day as if they had really worked for the government, and this during weeks and months; the materials and time, thus furnished, are valued at about one thousand or twelve hundred dollars;

40. That said goods were so fraudulently appropriated to, and said work so fraudulently done at the expense of the government of Canada for the benefit of the said Adelard Lanctot then and now a member of the House as aforesaid with his knowledge, assent and approval, the said Adelard Lancjtot abusively and fraudulently profiting at the public expense and to the public detriment by bis position of member of the House;

I found the belief I have just expressed upon affidavits which I desire to read and produce in support of the motion I am about to make:

(Translation).

Canada,

Province of Quebec,

District of Richelieu.

I, the undersigned, Alfred Douaire, painter, of the city of Sorel, 51 years of age, solemnly declare:

That I have been in the employment of the federal government at its shipyards situated at Saint-Joseph de Sorel, from January, 1906, inclusively to the 5bh of November, i910, as painter under the orders of J. Bte. Page, foreman of the painters department at the said shipyards, during the last two years;-that during these two said years, principally during the last year, and especially in July, August and September, 1910, I have been requested by the said J. Bte. Page to go to Sorel, at the house of Mr. Adelard Lanctot, M.P., then being built on George street, in order to paint, cement, polish and varnish, &c., &c., the said house and that, as it was well understood, after having registered at the shipyard as present and working on behalf of the government, and my departure each morn-in!.' was to be from the said shipyard.

That, as a matter of fact, I regularly registered and punched as previously mentioned, and that in conformity with my orders I left the shipyard each working day and went, as above stated, during the months of July, August and September, 1910, to the said Lanc tot house, where I have worked at the painting, varnishing and staining of the said Lanctot house.

That this work was also done in part by *Messrs. Theodore Emond, Edmond Brault, Adelard Letendre, Alberique Letendre, Omer Page, Arthur Trempe, Louis Paul, Adelard A lie, all painters, employed at the time by the said government, and on the working hours due to the government and each of them having punched at the same time as myself as aforesaid.

That during the time that work was going on, the said J. Bte. Page and Adelard Lanctot, M.P., were visiting the job from time to time, looking at the progress of the work, Page giving orders for having some paint brought from the shipyard and also fo.r the execution of the work, and that, many times to the knowledge and cognizance, and in the presence of the said Adelard Lanctot,-this gentleman knowing also where the paint came from and that the work was being done by employees of the government whom . he was seeing often and often at work.

That_ the said Adelard Lanctot never spoke of paying these painters, and in fact was not paying them, but they were regularly paid their salaries by the government at each pay day, as if they had worked for the department.

That the above mentioned persons who have worked with me at this painting have given to that work, some four weeks, and others from four to ten weeks.

I positively declarethat Mr. Adelard Lanctot knew at the time that the paint and other goods which were used in the painting of his house, were coming from the said shipyard of the government; 2. that this work was done by the then regular employees of the government who were paid, for the time they were doing that work, by the government itself, and that for that purpose the time of each employee was punched as employee of the government.

On the seventh day of December, 1910, at 10 p.m., Mr. Alfred Lavallee, lumber merchant, of Sorel, came to my house at Sorel, asking Mr. BLONDIN.

me to go immediately to the house of Mr. Adelard Lanctot, at Sorel, who desired to see me without fault; I went immediately and found Mr. Lanctot who was waiting for me and who, after the ordinary salutations, showed me and read me the solemn declaration which I had given during the said month of December to the same purpose as the present one, and spoke to me the following words:-* Is it you, Mr. Donaire, who gave this affidavit?' I answered: 'Yes.' He added: ' You have signed it?' I answered 'Yes.' He asked me if I would see Albert Thibaudeau and try to lay my hand upon certains papers relating to this affair, which he did not like to see circulating. I answered that it was not easy to get hold of these documents, principally the affidavit dated at Sorel. the 30th of November,, 1910. Mr. Lanctot added: ' I will look to that myself, and I will try to get hold of them. Mr. Lanctot wanted me to change my course of action, lie offered me a position under the government, which I refused. He told me that if some one was troubled about that affair, principally Mr. J. Bte. Page, I would be treated the same way he would be. I answered that I was not afraid. Before leaving, I told him that the affidavit which lie had in his hands, and which he .got, I did not know from whom, was true and signed by me in perfect knowledge and without any outside influence, as

I gave the present one.

, And I make this solemn statement, believing it conscientiously to be true, and knowing that it lias the same force and effect as if it was made under oath, under the witness law of Canada, and I have signed.

Topic:   QUESTION OF PRIVILEGE.-CHARGES AGAINST THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT SHIPYARD AT SOREL AND THE MEMBER FOR RICHELIEU.
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ALFRED DOUAIRE,

Declared before me, the undersigned, at Sorel, the first of March, 1911.

VICTOR A. BOURGEOIS,

(Translation). Canada, Province of Quebec, District of Richelieu. I, the undersigned, Henri Proulx, painter, of the city of Sorel, aged 34, do solemnly declare : That I have been in the employ of the Dominion government at its shipyards situated at St. Joseph de Sorel, from February 16, 1909, to November 5, i19i10, as_ painter and under the orders of J. Bte. Page, head of the painting department. That in the course of the month of August last (1910) the said J. Bte. Page instructed me to proceed, in company with Omer Page and Henri Paul, two government employees, painters like myself, working under his orders at the time, to proceed to the paint shop^ of the department for the purpose of taking the paint there, the property of the government, and carrying it to the said Lanctot house at Sorel, with instructions in going through Sorel to follow Augusta street so as to avoid being noticed, as would have been the case bad we gone directly to the spot. That accordingly I proceeded in August, 1910, together with the said Omer Page and Henri Paul, to the paint shop, and that there we loaded ourselves with boxes, barrels, and packages'of paint neither weighed or measured, as well as of oil and varnish and thence carried our load of wares to the said Lanc-tot's house .in Sorel, following Augusta street, so as to 'let people believe that we were coming from the shops in Sorel, in accordance with the instructions received from the said J. P. Page; that on reaching the said Lanctot house we deposited on ithe floor our three loads of paint, in the presence of the said Adelard Lanotot, who was then at the said house. There Messrs. Theodore Emond, Edmond lirault, Addlard Letendre, Alberic Letendre, Omer Page, Arthur Trempe, Louis Pauli, Adelard Alie and Alfred Doualre, all at the time in the employ of the government, as painters, under the orders of J. B. Page, their chief, with the knowledge of the said Adelard Lanctot, who knew these men, who knew where they were supposed to he working. took hold of the paint and utilized it to whitewash the inside and outside of the Lanctot house, while every morning having their cards punched so as to get their pay from the government, which as a matter of fact they did get, and this again to the knowledge of the said Adelard Lanctot who was aware that the government was paying these men _ for the time they had spent working in his house. I know personally that morning, noon and night the said Page proceeded with me from the Lanctot house to where the punch was located and that he punched on his own account, and that as long as the work lasted. It is also to my knowledge that in the course of the said work, Cuthbert Champagne, another government employee, and keeper of the punch, had instructions to punch on behalf of the aforesaid painters who did not see to it themselves, in the course of said work, at the said Lanctot house, and that indeed he punched once for me before my arrival, stating: your card is punched as well as the others. Besides, I declare that the said J. Bte. Page, while I was present, addreissel the said Cuthbert Champagne, then close to the punch, and inquired from the .said Champagne, keeper of the punch, whether he was careful to punch regularly on behalf of the men working at the time at Mr. Lanctot's. Mr. Champagne having answered in the affirmative, Mr. Page declared himself satisfied. I dclare lastly that on the afternoon of the twelfth day, January 6, 1911, I was requested by a friend of Mr. Lanotot to proceed to the letter's office. Accordingly, I wTent and found there Mr. Lanctot, Mr. Joseph Proulx, of Sorel, and Mr. Napoleon Proulx, of St. Vic-teire, two of my uncles, and here is what happened: 'Mir. Adelard Lanctot, M.P., inquired : ' Mr. Proulx, I heard that you weve anxious to get your position; I can have you reinstated provided you 'sign the paper which I have prepared and which I shall read to you. The grist of the paper he then read, was as follows. Hon. minister, I request that you put aside the statement which I signed on November 10, 1910, which you have in your hards. I signed that paper when in a passion and after thinking over it I realized that some things which I had included had no foundation in .fact, and that in the interest of the party as well as in my owTn personal interest such a course would be preferable, and at the same time I beg to be pardoned by you and by the member.' Having ascertained what use the member Lanctot intended to make of this letter, I answered that it was useless to read any more. ' You should have a better knowledge of the Proulx family; we are not of the kind who sign on Monday and withdraw their signature on Tuesday. I want you to hear in mind .Lauctot that all the affidavits declared and signed by me will remain exactly as on the day I signed them.' Then, Joseph Proulx, ticket agent addressed Lanctot as follows: ' You should not have a grudge against my nephew, but instead against those d fools on the other side whose inspirations you follow.' And the discussion on that subject lasted a couple of hours. And I make this solemn declaration believing it conscientiously to he true and knowing that it has the same force and effect as if it had been made under oath under the Evidence Act of Canada, and I have signed, HENRI PROULX. Declared before nue, undersigned at Sorel, on this 1st day of March, nineteen hundred and eleven.

VICTOR A. BOURGEOIS,

Notary. Canada, Province of Quebec, District of Richelieu. I, the undersigned, DieUdonne Peloquin, joiner and contractor of the city of Sorel, do solemnly declare: 1. That I am 34 years of age and that I have never obtained any contract, or favour, or employment from any of the political parties, and that I am independent of them. 2. That, to my personal knowledge, during the past five or six months, several men employed in the Dominion government shipyards situated at St. Joseph de Sorel, accused each other of thefts and plunderings of cement, lumber, iron, paint, and especially of time as government employees working for private persons while in the departmental pay; the whole being evidenced by several solemn declarations which have been put in my hands in the course of the last two or three days for the purpose of enlightening me and inducing me to request an investigation. 3. That in the course of November last and of December instant politicians, officials of the department high and low, accusers and accused, have travelled to Ottawa; one of the storekeepers has been suspended, then reinstated as he threatened to tear asunder the curtain which covered many a deed. Finally calm was restored, and it wa.s rumoured that matters would be set right, the accusers giving way as a rsulit of promises of employment, and the accused being compelled to pay back the value of the goods and time received. Hence an unforeseen appraisal for the purpose of determining the value of certain things which parties interested put down at $292, and which people w'ho have no interest in the matter figure at $800 or $1,000, or even as high as $12,000. 4. That basing myself on the written and oral statements which have been made and communicated to me, and on rumours deemed trustworthy here, I believe that the government, within the last two years, must have suffered a loss of over fifty thousand dollars, through fraud, embezzlement, etc. 5. That to my personal knowledge painters

in the employ of the government have painted the inside and outside of the house of our Dominion member of parliament, Mr. Ade-lard Lanctot, who was aware that such work was being carried on by these men, at his house situated on George street, in the city of Sorel; one of the best finished and the best painted in this city, and the painting of which is estimated at prices varying several hundred dollars. And I make this solemn declaration believing it conscientiously to be true and knowing that it has the same effect and force as if it had been made under oath, under the Evidence Act of Canada. DIEUDONN.E PELOQUIN. Declared before me at Sorel, December 29, 1910.

VICTOR A. BOURGEOIS,

Notary. Canada, Province of Quebec, District of Richelieu. I, the undersigned, Andronique Senecal, carpenter and joiner, of the city of Sorel, agd 45 years, do solemnly declare: 1. That J am employed at the Dominion government shipyards, situated at St. Joseph do Sorel, at the present time, and have been so employed for the last nine years; that on or about the third of May, nineteen hundred and nine (1909), Oscar Champagne, a man iu the employ of the same government, in the same place, as time-keeper, summoned me from .my work to his office and instructed me tc proceed at once to Sorel, to the house of Adelard Lanctot, then in course of construction on George street, that there I would find Lanctot waiting for me and would he _ told what to do. That accordingly, in compliance with that order from Champagne, I left forthwith, taking with me two ferry tickets, the property of the government, which Champagne handed to me to reach the place of the said Adelard Lanctot at Sorel. On my way I saw Mr. Lanctot at the Hotel Quebec, notwithstanding which I proceeded to his house and. waited for him until the following day. In fact, on the following day, I met Mr. Lanctot at his residence about nine in the morning, and told him that Mr. Champagne had sent me to him for some work that was to be done. Mr. Lanctot then instructed me to work about the house on his property, repair.;" and resetting the fence which surrounded it; I got to work at once and worked three days iu succession without interruption. I was paid by the government for these three days' work spent at Mr. Lanotot's; I was working under the latter's instructions and he must have seen to have my card punched by obliging bands, for I was paid .in full as usual. And I make this solemn declaration, believing it to be conscientiously true and knowing that it has the same force and effect a ; if it had been made under oath under the Evidence Act of Canada, And I have signed.

A. SENECAL.

Declared before me the undersigned at Sorel, on this 1st day of March, nineteen hundred and eleven.

VICTOR A. BOURGEOIS,

Notary. Canada, Province of Quebec, District of Richelieu. I, the undersigned, Napoleon Laroche, formerly painter and at present joiner, iu the parish of St. Joseph do Sorel, do solemnly declare: 1. That in .the course of the winter, spring, summer and parit of autumn of last year, 1910, I was employed at the Dominion government shipyards, situated at St. Joseph de Sorel, as painter and under the orders of J. Btc. Page, head of the painting department. 2. That .to my personal knowledge, in the course of that year, 1910, a complete staff of painters, then employed, as myself, by the government and paid by the government, was painted, varnished and decorated the inside and outside of the house of Mr. Adelard Lanctot, M.P., for the electoral district of Richelieu, then in course of construction on George street, in the city of Sorel. 3. That, as a matter of fact, Messrs. Omer Page, Louis Paul, Alfred Dona ire, Theodore Emond, Edmond Brault, Octavien Laferniere, Arthur Trempe, Adelard and Alberic Leten-dre, all painters employed and paid by the government and on government time, have painted, varnished and decorated the inside and outside of the said Lanctot house, and that with that object in view they worked almost uninterruptedly from about the end of June up to late autumn; work which to the best of my knowledge I estimate to he worth between twelve and thirteen hundred dollars. 4. That these persons registered or caused themselves to be registered as being present and working for the government, since they came up at every pay-day for the purpose of getting their money, and indeed were pail by the government for time which they supplied to a private party. And I make this solemn declaration, believing it conscientiously to be .true, and knowing that it has the same force and effect as if it was made under oath under the Evidence Act of Canada.

NAPOLEON LAROCHE.

Declared before me at St. Joseph de Sorel, on this 28th day of December, nineteen hundred *and ten.

RENE CHAMPAGNE,

C.S.C. for the District of Richelieu. Canada, Province of Quebec, District of Richelieu. I, the undersigned Herminegilde Lambert, of the parish of St. Joseph de Sorel, aged 37, d'i solemnly declare; 1. That I have been in the employ of the Dominion government at their shipyards, situated at St. Joseph de Sorel, from 1900 to 1910, inclusive, that is to say ten consecutive years, the first four years as caulker, and the six last as overseer of labourers. I have given up that work on December 28 last, and have not taken it up since, although I have been offered an increase of salary of fifteen cents per day. 2. That while I was thus in the service of the said government, especially within the last three years, Mr. Alex. Gendron, then and
CON

Pierre Édouard Blondin

Conservative (1867-1942)
Member File Biography @ PARLINFO

Mr. BLONDIN.

still of the labourers' department, head man, and consequently my superior, has often instructed me to send sometimes one, sometimes two and sometimes three of the men under my orders and in my gang: to work at Sorel for private parties, especially for Alfred Raril and Oscar Champagne, two high officials at the time, and still in the same department, and for A del a rd Lanotot, M.P., to carry on works and repairs at various buildings.

3. That on receiving these applications, I sent the number of men required to work for the benefit of these persons, and when each foreman was called to give to the head foreman the time of these men, I said to Mr. Alex. Gendron: ' I have one, or two or three men who have been working at .Sorel for the above mentioned/ Then Alex. Gendron when he was present, and Adolphe Joubert, his clerk representing him, when the latter was away, would say: 'Do not mention the absences which go unnoticed; these men have punched and will be paid by the department/

1. That Mr. Oscar Champagne, employed ii the government stores, has had turf taken ai bv. Joseph s taken to Sored to grade Ms property and embellish the grounds around his house at Sorel, which work was done bv Michel Rambert and Andre Cotnoir, two men in the employ of the government, whc worked between three and four days, while at the same time having their cards punched eve-ry morning and getting their pay from the government, at the knowledge of the said Oscar Champagne.

5- That in the course of the summer of 1910, ithat same Mt. Oscar Champagne caused tc be drawn, by government teams and by men ill government pay, iron pipes taken from the .government and had these carried bo Sorel -and utilized for a tunnel in a stream goin* through his property, and that this whole -expenditure has been supported by the "ov-ernment, which is the looser in this last instance of about $200. That to my knowledge instructions have -been given to the men en-tiusted with the drawing of the pipes to do so m such a way that the great Chief Papi-neau should have no knowledge of it. As a matter of fact, the drawing was effected about seven o clock in the morning previous to Mr. 1 apinean s arrival.

6. That in every instance where time or material was thus embezzled, urgent departmental work was interfered with.

7 That if, to the losses aforementioned, are added those inflicted on the department in the shape of thefts of wood, iron, cement, etc., I may say that these aggregate an enormous amount.

8 I am free to acknowledge that Mr. L. G. Papineau (great chief) of the department, is an honest man, but I will 'add that either through lack of sternness or some o-ther cause, ho finds himself unable to keep in the right path certain subalterns who are not very scrupulous in the handling of the punch. That without the benefit of an investigation for the purpose of finding out those actually at fault, the country will still suffer considerable losses.

And I make tMs solemn declaration, believing it conscientiously to be true and knowing that it has the same force and the

same effect as if it had been made under oath under the Evidence Act of Canada.

Topic:   RENE CHAMPAGNE,
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March 6, 1911