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Quebec Premier Jean Charest and Opposition Leader Pauline Marois listen to a presentation made to Quebec Olympians and Paralympians on Thursday, April 15, 2010 at the legislature in Quebec City.Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press

Quebec Liberals will rally behind leader Jean Charest in a show of force this weekend in the midst of the worst political crisis he's faced since taking office seven years ago.

The applause at the regular party meeting will be mostly for show. It won't squelch growing concerns many Liberals have for the future of their party and their leader.

In his 25 year political career, Mr. Charest has survived many crises, but none like this one. The attacks aren't coming from outside but from within the party.





An internal revolt has been brewing for some time and former justice minister Marc Bellemare's allegations this week of Mr. Charest's involvement in influence peddling and party financing irregularities may only be the start. Mr. Bellemare suggested there may be more explosive accusations when he appears before the public inquiry into the nominations of judges headed by former Supreme Court justice Marc Bastarache.

"These are the kinds of things I will be called upon to explain before Mr. Bastarache," Mr. Bellemare said in a telephone interview yesterday. "We'll see. I haven't seen the commission's mandate, I haven't heard from anyone. Everything in due course."

Two polls have showed Quebeckers believe the former justice minister over Mr. Charest by about a 4-1 margin, but Mr. Bellemare is now hearing questions about his own credibility.

A Quebec City lawyer, Mr. Bellemare was in charge of the Justice Department for one chaotic year. During his brief tenure, he was accused of interfering in a biker trial and of meddling in the files of his fellow cabinet ministers. In one sad episode, he was forced to admit his estrangement from his eldest daughter, a stripper who was investigated for connections to biker gangs.

When he quit, Mr. Bellemare said government wasn't what he'd hoped it would be and his main objective of eliminating no-fault insurance was unattainable.

Mr. Bellemare twice ran for mayor of Quebec City, failing miserably both times. His political career over, some have suggested Mr. Bellemare is bitter at the Liberals who failed to help his campaign. Anger might explain why he's gone public some six years after leaving cabinet.

The attacks "leave me totally indifferent. It doesn't bother me at all," Mr. Bellemare said.

"I have no political or electoral desires. I'm not out looking for a job. It doesn't bother me if polls say I'm on top and Charest is at the bottom."

Mr. Bellemare says the time was right to come forward, and other troubling facts have confirmed some of his allegations.

Junior Transport Minister Norm MacMillan has admitted he was approached by Liberal organizer Guy Bisson to have his son appointed to the bench. Marc Bisson was appointed to the Quebec Court in 2003. The province's most senior bureaucrat, Gérard Bibeau, was appointed following the recommendation of an influential party fundraiser, retired construction entrepreneur Franco Fava.

Liberals can count on at least two years before the next election, but turning the tide will be an immense task for Mr. Charest, who has already won three mandates - something no Quebec premier has managed since 1956.

Anger is growing among Liberals, and some are blaming the lofty fundraising goals Mr. Charest set after inheriting a party with shaky finances in 1998.

He's long set targets members of the legislature, including a quota for each cabinet minister set at $100,000. One former insider who had his own targets to meet said such solicitation made it inevitable promises would be made - and often not be kept.

The party has raised some $8.4 million per year since taking power in 2003 - double what their chief rival, the Parti Québécois, has managed. It's also double the amount the party raised before taking power.

"What the hell do they do with $8 million a year?" said the Liberal insider who was involved in fundraising. "It doesn't cost that kind of money to run an election campaign every few years."

Anger is most prominent among those is small and medium size company owners who feel they never get their share of the pie during the Charest era.

Mr. Charest caters to the big companies who promoted his leadership ascension, including Power Corporation, Bombardier, SNC-Lavallin as well as construction and high tech firms, according to one party organizer, who asked not to be named.

"Just look at the last budget. Big corporations get a break and the small and medium size companies pay more. That's the way it's been. He (Mr. Charest) gave a lot to big businesses thinking only of himself in the process," the organizer said.

Alleged favoritism in judicial appointments have been stacked upon months of allegations of corruption and collusion in the construction industry that have haunted the Liberals, along with allegations of partisanship in awarding lucrative daycare permits.

And all of it comes as Mr. Charest has to sell a difficult budget filled with tax hikes and a proposal for health user fees. Budget protesters were expected at the party meeting at St-Hyacinthe, Que., just east of Montreal.

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