Top bureaucrat, chief of staff lose jobs at Transports Qubec amid corruption allegations

The top bureaucrat at Quebec's Transport Ministry and the top advisor to the transport minister have lost theirjobs over a stalled investigation into allegations ofintimidation and corruption at the ministry.

Premier Philippe Couillard announced on Thursday that thedeputy transport minister,DominiqueSavoie, was being relieved of her functions.

Transport Minister Jacques Daoustlater announced that he was replacing his chief of staff,PierreOuellet. The move was necessary, Daoust said, to"maintain the public trust in political institutions."

Concerns about shady dealings at Transports Qubecsurfaced publicly in a recent interview that former transport ministerRobertPoeti gave to the French-language magazineL'actualit.

• Couillard accused of demoting Robert Poeti for flagging problems in Transport Ministry

The story detailed Poeti's claimsthat Transports Qubec employees were being intimidated into awarding contracts to certain peopleand that cost overruns on public projects were being hidden.

Poetitold the magazinehe asked Savoie to intervene in some situations and change certain practices, but he was shuffled out of cabinet in January.

Savoie told reporters on Wednesday she had nothing to be ashamed of. She was unavailablefor comment on Thursday.

"I've been in the public service for almost 30 years. I have a great, honest career, I am very comfortable and very proud to work at the Transport Ministry," she said.

Couillard denies cover-up

Following the publication of the L'actualit story,opposition parties accusedCouillardof demotingPoetito stifle his work in uncovering and fixing theirregularities within the ministry.

Couillardsaid he was insulted by the accusation. He added that he knew nothing ofPoeti'sfindings and that hisdemotion was to make roomfor more women and youngerMNAsincabinet.

Daoust,Poeti's replacement, turned 68 in February.

In an effort to prove he only learned of Poeti's concerns after he was removed from cabinet, Couillard tabled a letter thatPoetiwrote to Daoust in April.

In the letter, Poetiwarns Daoust about a series of internal practices that he found worrying. Among the things that Poeti points out is that ex-ministry employees had beenawarded contracts without tender.

Investigator describes hitting roadblocks

The premier also announced the creation of an inspector general position within the Transport Ministry.

Couillard said he made that decision after reading the resignation letter written by Annie Trudel, a former investigator with the provincial anti-corruption unit whoPoetihired to investigatethe department.

The content of Trudel's letter,Couillard said, was "likely to undermine public confidence" in the ministry, which spurred him to act.

Radio-Canada obtained a copy of the letter, whichis addressed to the transport minister's chief of staff,Ouellet.

Trudel, who Poetihired in 2014, wrote aboutrunning into a series of roadblockswhile carrying out her probe into the ministry's inner workings, including being denied access to information she requested.

She also wrote that following the cabinet shuffle, she found it more difficult to work with the department, to the point where herefforts were rendered "useless."

"Under the circumstances, since I no longer see how I am useful at the ministry and since I feel a deep uneasiness about squandering public money working torespond to superfluous requests, I'm ending my contract," she wrote.