(Quebec) The ethics and professional conduct commissioner indicates that an investigation has been opened concerning the Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon.
In a letter dated Thursday and addressed to Québec solidaire MP Vincent Marissal, of which The Canadian Press obtained a copy, commissioner Ariane Mignolet specified that the investigation will focus on a possible breach of articles 15 and 29 to 33 of the Code of ethics and deontology of the members of the National Assembly.
The opposition parties had earlier in the day called for the opening of this investigation, while the minister took part in an event on a private island this fall.
In the morning press scrum, Mr. Fitzgibbon assured that he has nothing to reproach himself for his pheasant hunting party on a private island belonging to wealthy businessmen.
He said it’s his private life and it’s up to him, but he agrees with the ethics commissioner’s investigation requested by the opposition.
This will be the sixth investigation by the Ethics Commissioner into the Fitzgibbon case in four years.
The three opposition parties denounce the minister’s hunting party in October in a private club whose members are business people who have received subsidies.
This is a prestigious hunt in traditional Austrian costume, accessible by invitation only, on Province Island, at Lake Memphremagog.
“I will not stop doing my activities because of the Montreal Journal Mr. Fitzgibbon fired back, targeting the media that revealed the affair. He said he has been involved in this activity for more than 20 years.
“I’m very comfortable, I think it’s a strength to have this knowledge, I think the behavior I had is perfectly acceptable,” he continued.
“I hope that the ethics commissioner will do her duty, because we will see the grants I granted that day,” he concluded with a touch of irony.
The Liberal Opposition has sent a formal inquiry to the Ethics Commissioner.
In his request, MP Monsef Derraji argues in particular that the Minister has still not filed a declaration concerning this activity in the register of donations, hospitality and other benefits, while this must be done within 30 days.
“A reasonable person might indeed wonder whether the Minister’s participation in a prestigious private hunting activity in the company of shareholders of companies benefiting from subsidies granted by his own ministry constitutes a form of quid pro quo and could lead to doubts about the granting of these grants,” he wrote.
“It’s very difficult to have confidence in this minister and this government when we show so little respect for ethical issues,” said PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, who adds his voice to the request for an investigation. of the Liberal Party (PLQ).
“Did he pay to go to this island and who did he meet, because I doubt he disguised himself to hunt pheasants alone?” he asked.
“I don’t understand, I’m never invited to these pheasant hunts,” he added ironically. No one ever asked me to dress up with a vintage rifle. »
“It’s a fairly relentless observation, we’re not from the same world, these millionaires, big business owners, it’s hard afterwards to lecture and ask people to be sober”, mentioned his colleague Pascal Bérubé, thus recalling Mr. Fitzgibbon’s appeal to consumers to save energy.
The possible receipt of gifts, tokens of hospitality or other benefits from people requesting state aid is “likely to represent a personal interest that could influence the independence of judgment in the exercise of a public office”. , for his part wrote the deputy Vincent Marissal, of Quebec solidaire.
With information from Caroline Plante