"As far as I'm concerned, it was the Maurice Duplessis government which was pressured into doing it from a hunting club in the States," his sister said. "They [Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs] wanted to get the case solved and they didn't care who it was."
Maurice Duplessis was also chief prosecutor of Quebec.
Duplessis' government was characterized by patronage and corruption, used to keep the opposition weak. He once proclaimed a much-needed bridge at Trois-Rivières would not be built should a Liberal be elected and kept his word while the opposition held the seat. In a rural district which had always elected a Liberal, the roads were kept unpaved, making it difficult for commerce and medicine to be transported, so the residents decided in 1956 to vote for the Union Nationale as that was the only way to get new roads constructed. He was also accused of vote-fixing. Contemporary rumors say that groups would arrive in rural towns armed with whiskey, food, and appliances in exchange for votes.
Duplessis's party, Union Nationale, often had the active support of the Roman Catholic Church in its political campaigns and employed the slogan Le ciel est bleu; l'enfer est rouge: Heaven is blue (Union Nationale); Hell is red (Liberal)
During his mandates, several significant labour strikes occurred. In those conflicts, Duplessis responded rapidly with force, using the provincial police to disperse picket lines.
