Claude Paquin, a Quebec resident who was wrongly convicted of a double homicide and later acquitted after 41 years, has reached a substantial settlement with Montreal and the provincial government.
The agreement was announced by all three parties in a joint statement released on Friday. The statement expressed the hope that the settlement would assist Mr. Paquin in moving forward from this challenging period in his life, avoiding the need for a lengthy trial scheduled for this fall.
In 1983, Paquin was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder related to the deaths of Ronald Bourgouin and Sylvie Revah, a couple murdered in 1978 in the Laurentians. He spent 18 years behind bars before being granted full parole in 2001, subject to strict release conditions that lasted for the next 23 years.
In 2024, the federal justice minister ordered a retrial after new information surfaced, suggesting a potential miscarriage of justice. Paquin, now 83, was acquitted on November 6, 2024.
Paquin credited his legal team from Projet Innocence Québec for his acquittal, emphasizing the importance of their work. The case against him heavily relied on the testimony of Bernard Provençal, a prominent police informant. However, evidence uncovered by Projet Innocence Québec over the years raised doubts about Provençal’s credibility.
Represented by Woods LLP lawyers, Paquin filed a multimillion-dollar civil lawsuit in Quebec Superior Court in May 2025 against the City of Montreal and the Attorney General of Quebec. The lawsuit alleged failures by their agents, including the Montreal police, Sûreté du Québec, and the Quebec Crown prosecutor’s office.
According to Paquin’s legal team, the lawsuit is not just about a miscarriage of justice but about a life stolen and an existence unfairly taken away. They highlighted that police and the prosecution were aware as early as 1983 that the informant’s testimony was false and that any physical evidence linking Paquin to the crime had been tampered with or fabricated.
The lawsuit sought damages of over $89 million, but the exact settlement amount remains undisclosed due to a confidentiality clause. As the lawsuit was settled out of court, the claims were not subjected to legal scrutiny, and the parties have agreed not to provide further comments on the matter.