I smell panic in Power

The smell of panic escaped from the Empire Power Corporation, yesterday, in an editorial of rare force from the pen of the editor in chief of the Desmarais family, La Presse. And for good reason. The case Sagard, as American commentators have already dubbed Sagardgate, could become the worst nightmare that this family is among the richest and most private of Quebec. The Desmarais conduct their affairs with discretion for many years, successfully elsewhere. Paul Desmarais senior loves so much privacy that he built his great castle in the woods, several miles from the nearest road, in Charlevoix. It is his right. But its right ends where the public's right to information begins. The public has a right to know that Mr. Desmarais prompted not only dinner, but at bedtime, prime ministers, ministers and presidents of Crown corporations, among others. This is not nothing: the persons to whom the public has entrusted immense powers, including the pass laws and levy taxes and fees, are invited to sleep at the chateau of Sagard, the sheets of Desmarais, often with their spouses and their families. Too much intimacy You must excuse us, but there is a difference between receiving an invitation to dinner at a restaurant or even at home, and be willing to sleep in the bed of his host, to awaken them in pajamas and brushing teeth in the guest bathroom ... This is a level of closeness and intimacy that goes beyond the business meeting and courtesy. In our opinion, there is no difference between waking up on Tony Accurso's yacht or in the castle of Desmarais, when you're an elected official or an official of the State. Yet we know that stays on the boat of Mr. Accurso has been much more ink to date - especially in the Desmarais family of newspapers (La Presse, Le Soleil, La Tribune, Le Nouvelliste, The Daily, The Law and The Voice of East Gesca owned subsidiary of Power Corporation) - the dodos in Sagard. Have you noticed also that guests still hold when we learn about the same thing: no, no, no, we did not talk business! Stitches in Time This is by searching a folder other than Le Journal de Quebec found that the president of the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, Michael Sabia, had stayed for an entire weekend with his family, the castle of Desmarais, last August. And it is collecting comments and information on this amazing tour of a number of the Fund that Jean Charest replied (to questions of a Journal de Quebec and a radio journalist for Radio-Canada ) he was also already gone to sleep in the sheets of Sagard, with his wife. We are still waiting for the Prime Minister tell us how many times he has accepted the hospitality of Desmarais. The Deputy Prime Minister Line Beauchamp was then confirmed to a reporter from VAT as it had gone to Sagard on two occasions, but not sleep there, which is not a detail. As in Mirador Nevertheless, according to André Pratte, the case would be a new Sagard knowingly blown out by Quebecor. The editorial page editor of The Press speaks of a "vicious campaign of disinformation" and a "smear operation against the Desmarais family." In short, it would be a conspiracy with the complicity of the Journal de Montreal and Le Journal de Quebec in particular. That's why I get involved. Mr. Pratte is careful however to avoid addressing the many ethical issues raised in our pages about stays politicians and heads of Crown corporations in Sagard. Thereupon, he remains silent. Looks like a scene from the defunct drama series Mirador, where PR as skilled as Machiavellian establish a crisis communication plan to rescue a rich and prestigious customer: "This is what we will do: we'll use our newspapers to launch the idea that there is no public information on file Sagard, or almost no, it is rather an unwarranted response and classless against us from our competitors in business, Quebecor. Thus, whenever it will be mentioned again in the media of Quebecor, it will be seen as the hard ... Great, right? "The real reason for being This brings us to the real reason to exist in La Presse and Gesca, a newspaper chain that would have a financial return too low to be owned by Power Corporation. Besides, this is why the battle of Yves Michaud, a shareholder of Power Corporation and president of the Movement education and defense of shareholders (MEDAC), seeking for years to get the financial results of Gesca. Like others, Mr. Michaud asked why Gesca Power Corporation retains in its portfolio companies financial profit if its financial performance is not up, as many suspect. Unless the newspapers La Presse and Gesca not serve another purpose? Well, well ... As such, the interests and privacy of Desmarais, who all have huge properties in Quebec, where they find themselves in the heat of the spotlight, as is currently the case? Or having links with influential political and financial upper crust of Quebec and some intelligentsia? To obtain access or information first hand? Or defend the federalist vision of Desmarais and torpedo the sovereigntist option of the clan in a more or less subtle, at appropriate times? Lessons in journalism Mr. Pratte even allows us lessons in journalism, completely unjustified. However, he fails to mention his own newsroom, where we know that some journalists say they are embarrassed to see that La Presse has so far devoted any story on the presence of Michael Sabia, Jean Charest or Line Beauchamp to the field of Sagard. We understand that this can be embarrassing for the day of the Rue Saint-Jacques. Mr. Pratte is the first to know how the current situation is delicate. In 1994, when he was a columnist for La Presse, he was suspended by his bosses after writing this in a column entitled "Everything is rotten": "Everything is managed by Power Corporation, everybody knows that. Christian Johnson is Power Corporation. "He then cited a nobody, just. The Gazette was then interviewed the president of the Journalists Union of Press at the time, who claimed to have made this meeting by management (trying to defend the ousted columnist): "When you bite the hand that feeds us, there are consequences. "Read the text of Duty. Mr. Pratte has become editor of the flagship Gesca and now know which hand feeds him. This should remind him not to give a lesson to anyone when it comes to Desmarais. Find the original