He acknowledges that the Bloc Quebecois leader, Gilles Duceppe, and his deputy, Pierre-Paul Roy, discussed Mr. Lebel's tax situation with him. If they didn't initiate the breach of confidentiality, they do not seemed to have hesitated to act on the information. The need to make clear to everyone in government that taxpayers are entitled to confidentiality in their dealings with the state could not be more obvious. The Quebec government should act quickly on Judge Moisan's recommendation that unauthorized consultation of Revenue Quebec files be made a specific crime. Judge Moisan has made a number of other useful recommendations, including not allowing political attaches to have computer access to taxpayers' files and putting an end to the practice of gathering in one place all the tax files of elected officials, movie stars, media personalities or anyone else whose financial situation might interest curious civil servants.
All taxpayers have the right to be treated uniformly and with respect for their privacy.
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