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MONTREAL — It’s the image that Jean Charest never wanted Quebecers to see.

Almost three years after the former premier bowed to public pressure and created the Charbonneau Commission, the inquiry has made public a single photograph from 2001 that, if it had been released while Charest was still in office, would likely have forced his resignation.

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The picture shows the now-retired politician grinning broadly as he embraces construction magnate Antonio Accurso. Down the left side of the image, a handwritten message reads, in French: “Dear Tony, thanks for your support. In friendship, Charest.”

Accurso, who spent a third day on the stand at the Charbonneau Commission on Thursday, confirmed under oath that the image is authentic, and that it was taken at a fundraising activity he organized for the Liberals at his Laval restaurant.

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At the time the picture was snapped, Accurso was just one of several highly successful businessmen in Quebec’s construction industry. But his companies, as well as man himself, came under increased scrutiny in the late 2000s, leading to several police investigations and dozens of criminal charges.