The Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) should give up a promotion granted to its deputy Louis-Charles Thouin, believes the Liberal opposition, highlighting his political career studded with controversial decisions.
Liberal MP Gaétan Barrette, spokesperson for ethics, believes that Mr. Thouin does not have the roadmap to properly exercise his mandate on the Committee on Public Administration (CAP), where he comes from to be appointed on January 28.
“It would be wise for the CAQ to reconsider this appointment, he said in an interview with the Duty. […] Given his frankly borderline behavior, I think this nomination is eminently questionable and I would even say questionable and inappropriate. »
Mr. Barrette notably underlined the fact that Mr. Thouin intervened with Ministers Pierre Fitzgibbon and Caroline Proulx, in 2019, so that they would grant $17,000 in discretionary grants to a friend’s business, as reported by The Journal of Montreal Last year.
“For me it is very clear that there is an appearance of conflict of interest, he said on this subject. The appearance of conflict of interest it is aggravated by the modus operandi. […] We are approaching patronage. »
According to Mr. Barrette, this is in addition to other past decisions by Mr. Thouin, particularly when he was mayor of a municipality in Lanaudière where, as part of his duties, he intervened in favor of a change of zoning requested by this same contractor who has become his friend.
“His whole career is tinged with the appearance of conflicts of interest,” said the MP, adding that Mr. Thouin “has made a career out of approaching the limit not to cross rather than staying away from it. no more possible “.
Attitude and state of mind
The CAP is the only parliamentary committee where the deputies work in a non-partisan way of the National Assembly with the objective of accountability of government departments and agencies. The CAP notably follows up on the reports of the Auditor General with whom its members work in close collaboration.
Mr. Barrette believes that the CAQ government must understand that Mr. Thouin, who holds a master’s degree in public administration, is not the best candidate for the CAP.
“I’m sure he’s got what it takes,” he said. But does he have the attitude, the right state of mind to be on this commission? I find that no. »
At the end of January, Mr. Thouin was also promoted to member of the Committee on Institutions.
Mr. Thouin returned to the CAQ caucus in September, six months after withdrawing due to an investigation by the Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit (UPAC) into allegations of favoritism towards the SPCA Laurentides-Lanaudière, while he was mayor of Saint-Calixte. UPAC concluded that Mr. Thouin “did not violate any law relating to fraud, breach of trust or corruption”.
In April, the Ethics Commissioner of the National Assembly Ariane Mignolet noted that Mr. Thouin had lacked caution in getting involved in a file he had handled as an elected municipal official. Ms. Mignolet, however, had not identified any breach of the code of ethics.