Flush out fake news, check the declarations of politicians, find the real figures: our Bureau of Investigation, based in Montreal and Quebec, specializes in the art of establishing the facts. Every Saturday, our journalists and researchers present their findings to you to allow you to see more clearly in the news of the week.
THE STATEMENT
On Twitter, the leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, Éric Duhaime, said that the amount granted to MPs for their travel has increased significantly.
“While the Legault government refuses to lower gasoline taxes for the people and delays helping truckers, it is giving MPs a 17% increase in their travel expenses, in order to compensate for [sic] rising fuel prices,” he said. Duhaime specifies that the price per kilometer has gone from $0.465 to $0.545.
FACTS
There has indeed been an increase in reimbursements for members’ travel between the National Assembly and their constituency.
However, the increase was announced in January, well before the recent explosion in gas prices, which began last February. It took into account, among other things, interest rates and the price of gasoline before that date.
The allowance has increased to $0.545/km if the employee travels less than 8,000 km during the financial year, while it was $0.52/km before, according to data from the Office of the Assembly national. This is a 4.8% increase from April 1.
When contacted on the subject, the spokesperson for the PCQ sent a screenshot of a web page of the Secretariat of the Treasury Board dating from two years ago, which showed that the deputies were then entitled to an allowance. $0.465/km.
– Charles Matthew
No, Charest did not ban shale gas
Screenshot / VAT News
Pierre Poilievre, candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada.
THE STATEMENT
On Monday, in a video posted on his Facebook page, Conservative candidate Pierre Poilievre extolled Canada’s oil and gas potential, particularly in the context of the war in Ukraine. He did not fail to scratch his opponent Jean Charest, whom he reproached for having opposed the development of the gas subsidiary of Quebec when he was Prime Minister: “He banned shale gas in Quebec,” he said, in this excerpt from the Conservative debate the previous week.
FACTS
It’s wrong. Mr. Poilievre was probably referring to the Oil and Gas Limitation Act, passed in June 2011, when Mr. Charest was premier.
But this law was only intended to prohibit oil or gas development in a portion of the St. Lawrence and its islands, and not on dry land. We have to wait until June 2018 to see Quebec ban the extraction of shale gas. The Couillard government then adopted a regulation prohibiting fracturing in the shale, planting the last nail in the coffin of this subsidiary.
Since then, the government of François Legault has closed the door to the exploitation of shale gas in Quebec, citing in particular a lack of social acceptability. Pierre Poilievre’s campaign did not respond to our request for an explanation.
– Pascal Dugas Bourdon
Number of the week: 8
This is the number of shootings listed in the city of Laval since the beginning of the year, according to the Service de police de Laval.
Three of them happened in the last week. Tuesday was the last time a gun crime was committed. A man in his thirties had been hit in broad daylight in the Chomedey district.
City police chief Pierre Brochet told the Log yesterday that the shootings were linked to street gangs.
– Charles Matthew