Corruption not limited to Quebec: Philippe Couillard

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard says his province isn't the only one with a corruption problem.

Couillard made the comment following the release of the Charbonneaucommission's report onQuebec's construction industry, whichconcluded corruption and collusion in the granting of public contracts are "far more widespread than originally believed."

"I would bet that in anyprovince, if you run a similar exercise, you would find similar events orsimilarimpressions," Couillard told reporters in Quebec City.

"We hadthe courage to face it... We faced it, we are acting on it now, and let's move forward as a free and democratic society."

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Couillard said his government will"closelystudy therecommendations," which he contendsgo far beyond his own ruling Liberal Party.

"I think it's the political class in general," he said.

The premier added that stricter rules governing political-campaign financing havealready helped limitthe influence of organized crime in politics.

For his part, Parti Qubcois Leader Pierre Karl Pladeau said he would take time toread through the report before offering his own take.

The 1,741-pagereport, released Tuesday,contains 60 recommendations for the Quebec government.

'We've turned the page:' FTQ president

The FTQ labour federation welcomed the report Tuesday.

The initial push for an inquiry into construction-industry corruption came aftera 2009 Radio-Canada report alleging ex-construction magnateTony Accursohad used his connections to access the federation's Solidarity Fund.

In a statement, FTQ president Daniel Boyercalled the three-and-a-half years of hearings a positive exercise which raised awareness and called into question behaviours and practices that has hurt Quebec's progress.

Boyer noted that the commission did not findcorruption was widespread within the FTQ and its Solidarity Fund, even if it did find "certain individuals" had attempted to peddle their influence within the organization and that some former union officersdid have links to organized crime.

He said the FTQ now has"zero tolerance" towards organized crime within the ranks of its unions. He said the federation adoptedacode of ethics in2011 and has taken other measures to improve governance of its Solidarity Fund.

"We've turned the page" on that era, Boyer said."But we will remain vigilant."

'Careful and cautious'

BrianMyles, a journalism instructor at l'Universit du Qubec Montral who covered the inquiry for the Montreal newspaperLe Devoir, said the large number of recommendations will give the province a road mapfor how to further crack down oncorruption.

Myles pointed out that tenprovincial laws have been passed since 2009, when pressure was first exerted on the former Charest government to launch a corruption inquiry.

However, Myles cautioned that more remains to be done, pointing to a Montreal report on collusion in the snow-removal industry released Monday.

"We have to be careful and cautious," he said.

"We need whistleblowers, we need investigative reporters,and we need that the elected officials stay vigilant," Myles said, "and we hope for not a culture of corruptionbut a cultureof change in Quebec."