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Criminal law - Fraud and breach of trust by official - Concept of "official" - Privileges and immunities - Whether former member of legislature can be considered "official" within meaning of s. 122 of Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, and whether he has immunity for any penal or criminal offences he may have committed - An Act respecting the National Assembly, R.S.Q., c. A-23.1.
Mr. Filion, a chartered accountant, was the member of the National Assembly of Quebec for the electoral division of Montmorency from 1994 to 1998. His riding office was in a building he owned in the municipality of Beauport, and his entire staff worked there. The office from which he worked as an accountant was also in the same building.

Mr. Filion was charged with misappropriating for his personal benefit amounts allocated to him as a member of the National Assembly. Specifically, he was alleged to have taken certain amounts allocated to him to pay his political staff and administer his riding office and to have used them to pay workers who did work in the building and staff who created three software programs, one of which was considered to have been used for personal purposes, since it allowed him to do word and section number searches in taxation legislation.

There were 13 counts against Mr. Filion. Nine of them alleged that, while an "official", he had committed fraud or a breach of trust in connection with the duties of his office, thereby committing the indictable offence provided for in s. 122 of the Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46. The other four counts alleged that he had, by deceit, falsehood or other fraudulent means, defrauded the Government of Quebec (the National Assembly) of an amount exceeding $5,000.00, thereby committing the indictable offence provided for in s. 380(1)(a) of the Criminal Code.

His trial was held before Judge Dionne of the Court of Québec (Criminal and Penal Division). At the end of the trial, Judge Dionne convicted Mr. Filion of fraud (five counts) and breach of trust by an official (three counts). A guilty verdict was thus entered by Judge Dionne on October 7, 2004.

Mr. Filion appealed his conviction, arguing that he was not an "official" within the meaning of s. 122 of the Criminal Code. He also argued that the Act respecting the National Assembly, R.S.Q., c. A-23.1, creates an exclusive control system for the activities of members of the National Assembly and that the courts cannot interfere in this process without violating the privileges and immunities of such members.

On February 22, 2006, the Court of Appeal dismissed Mr. Filion's appeal in a judgment rendered from the bench. In the reasons entered in the Court's file on February 24, 2006, the Court concluded that Mr. Filion was an "official" within the meaning of ss. 118 and 122 of the Criminal Code and that, as a member of the National Assembly, he could not have immunity for any penal or criminal offences he might have committed.