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QUEBEC - Ex-Quebec justice minister Marc Bellemare has launched a $900,000 countersuit against his former boss: Premier Jean Charest.
Bellemare is also calling for Charest's lawsuit to be rejected if it's determined it was presented under the wrong name, a court document filed Thursday says.
Charest's given name is John, not Jean, court documents filed by Bellemare say.
"The plaintiff is registered as a lawyer in the Roll of the Order under the name John James Charest," Bellemare says in the documents.
"The defendant calls for the rejection of the petition . . . by the plaintiff if it turns out that the plaintiff's birth certificate stipulates that his name is John James and not Jean Charest."
Bellemare's suit, filed at the Quebec City courthouse, is in response to the $700,000 defamation lawsuit that Charest launched against him last spring.
Bellemare has alleged a Liberal financier had sway in the appointment of judges while Bellemare was in office, all with Premier Jean Charest's blessing
His accusations caused Charest to call for a public inquiry into the matter, a process that started last month.
Charest has denied Bellemare's allegations.
The court documents allege that Bellemare has suffered significant damage since Charest's lawsuit was filed and since the launch of the commission.
The court papers allege that Bellemare was "machine-gunned with questions and insinuations about his personal and professional life by the plaintiff's representatives in a direct intent to irreparably damage his reputation, his integrity and his credibility."
Bellemare's lawyer, Jean-Francois Bertrand, alleges that Charest's lawsuit was an attempt to "muzzle" and intimidate his client.
The former politician, who served as Charest's justice minister in 2003 and 2004, has already testified before the commission into Quebec's judge selection process. He was cross-examined earlier this week.
Charest is also expected to take the stand during the inquiry.
The premier declined to comment Thursday on Bellemare's lawsuit, but his lawyer, Andre Ryan, indicated they would study the document.
Political opponents in the past have targeted the anglophone roots of Charest's first name.
Shortly after announcing his candidacy for the provincial Liberal party leadership in 1998, Charest predicted the sovereigntist Parti Quebecois would try to discredit him based on his heritage
"I was supposed to be called James, but I was born on St-Jean Baptiste Day, so they decided to call me Jean,'' Charest said in March 1998 after announcing he was quitting the federal Conservatives to run for the Liberal leadership.
"I was baptized by an Irish priest and he wrote 'John.' No one noticed.''
