Nathalie Normandeau: Rise and fall of a political star

Nathalie Normandeau'sstar shot into the Quebec political firmament a mayor at 27, an MNA at 30, the deputy premier by the time she was 40.

She had the ear of the former premier, Jean Charest, who handed herhigh-profile cabinet portfolios. Shewas often billed as a potentialleader of the Quebec Liberals.

But her fall backto Earth has been just as remarkable. Thatdescent hit a new low on Thursday, when investigators from the province'santi-corruption unit, UPAC, rang the doorbell of her Quebec City home, arrest warrants in hand.

• More on this story:
  • Ex-Quebec deputy premierarrested byUPAC
  • NathalieNormandeau'slawyer questions Crown's evidence
  • A closer look at the Quebec political figuresfacing charges

Normandeauwas charged on six counts, includingconspiracy, corruption, breach of trust and bribery. If found guilty, she could faceup to 12 years in prison.

Modest beginnings

Normandeau's beginnings were modest. She was born in Maria, Que., a municipalityof about 2,500people in theGaspsie. Her father was a carpenter.

As she finished her political science degree at Laval University, Normandeau moonlightedin the press office of premier Robert Bourassa.

She returned to her hometown, where she was elected mayor in 1995. Three years later, Charest personally persuadedherto make the jump to provincial politics, when he left the leadership of the federal Conservatives to takeover the Quebec Liberal Party.

Normandeau was made municipal affairs minister in 2005. In addition tothat portfolio,Normandeaualso served the Charest government asministerof natural resources and intergovernmental affairs. She was named deputy premier in 2007.

Most of the charges Normandeaufaces cover theperiod from 2005until 2012.

According to publicly available court documents, investigatorssuspectNormandeau used her cabinet position to direct municipal contracts to engineering firmswhichmade donations to the Liberal Party.

Normandeau's resignation from politics in 2011 came as something of a surprise, although signs of strainwere starting to show.

Her handling of the sensitive natural resources file was drawing criticism, and her love life also had begun to make headlines.

First there was a public breakupwith Franois Bonnardel,a member of the rival Action dmocratique du Qubec, who is nowfinance critic for the Coalition Avenir Qubec.

Then there were reports she was datingformer Montreal police chiefYvan Delorme, who was linked to the head of aprivate security firm who was later charged with fraud.

It was, however, "personal reasons" that she cited when she left politics.

Charest called her a "loyal ally" on the day she resigned.

"She has politics in her blood," he said.

Life after politics

Life after politics did not get easier for Normandeau. A profile in La Presselast year described her as being "radioactive" to former colleagues after stepping down.

Testimony before the Charbonneau commission, the wide-ranging public inquiry into corruption in Quebec's construction industry, cast a further shadow on Normandeau's time as municipal affairs minister.

A construction boss, Lino Zambito, told the commission that he sent Normandeau a bouquet of 40 roses for her 40th birthday. His other gifts included tickets to a Cline Dion concert at the Bell Centre.

Zambito's testimony linked Normandeau to a cash-for-contracts scheme in Boisbriand in which he pleaded guilty to fraud and corruption.

In the Charbonneau commission's 1,700-page final report, Normandeau's name was mentioned 175 times.

Normandeau had been trying to rehabilitate her reputation recently. She co-hosted a Quebec City radio show that had been proving popular with listeners in the provincial capital.

But within hours of being charged, Normandeau's name had been removed from the show's website, and she was suspended without pay.

Normandeau's lawyer, MaximeRoy, said she intends to plead not guilty to the charges.