Parti Qubcois defends meeting with UPAC investigators

ThePartiQubcoisis defending itself afterit came to light that senior party membersmet with anti-corruption unit (UPAC) investigators in February.

On Wednesday,PQ Leader PaulineMaroisdiminished the importance of the meeting withUPACinvestigators, adding that she had not been personally questioned by investigators.

"I will never accept a comparison between the Liberal Party and the PartyQubcoisrelated tofundraisingor granting contracts,"Maroistold journalists at a news conference in Montreal.

Saint-JrmePQcandidate Pierre Karl Pladeau defended his party publicly, arguingthata meeting with a few investigators isn't the same as the search warrants that were carried out at the provincialLiberal party's offices last summer.

• Quebec Liberal headquarters raided by anti-corruption unit

"A search is authorized by a judge. A courteous visit by UPAC, that's something else," Pleadeau saidin an interview withRadio-Canada.

"Let's wait for the Charbonneaucommission's conclusions. Are we going to trust the Liberal party to apply the recommendations of the Charbonneau commission? That's wishful thinking," Pladeau said.

On Tuesday, the PQ filed a formal complaint with Quebec'schief electoral officer over allegations of inappropriate Liberal fundraising. The allegations were based on search warrant documents from thatUPAC raid on Liberal offices.

Later that day, the PQreleased its ownstatement saying that two investigators had met with itsgeneral director,Sylvain Tanguay, and its director of finances and administration, Pierre Sguin, in February.

According to Marois, the meeting had beenkept secret at the request of UPACand not because the party had anything to hide.