Criticized about the PACTE program, the Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, persists and signs.
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“All the loans that have been made, I would do them again today without any exceptions,” he said in an interview.
In recent weeks, the Auditor General, Guylaine Leclerc, revealed that thanks to his discretionary power, Mr. Fitzgibbon had authorized $ 68 million in loans to 10 companies that did not meet all the eligibility criteria of the PACTE, a program put moving forward to help cash-strapped businesses due to the pandemic.
But according to the minister, the Auditor General “did not question the loans”, she said that the documentation “was a little lacking”.
“And what we said to the ministry, we said we were going to better document,” he said.
According to the minister’s statements, in 28 cases, Investissement Québec had to put together a case and ask for its approval.
“They determined that PACTE applied, but they still wanted to validate with the Minister,” explains Mr. Fitzgibbon.
Agent of his trust
Of all the companies helped, however, one case in particular drew attention, that of LMPG, formerly Lumenpulse, which includes among its directors Michel Ringuet, representative of the blind trust of Mr. Fitzgibbon, who had also sat on the board. board of the company.
However, the Minister affirms that the financial assistance of $ 10.2 million granted to LMPG met all the criteria. The file still went through his office, because all loans over $ 5 million had to be approved by him.
“It was Investissement Québec that made the decision. […] To say that the minister has manipulated files is a complete falsehood in the media. ”
In recent weeks, an aura of mystery has surrounded the companies that have benefited from the minister’s discretionary power.
The minister argues that the names of the companies are public, but in an access to information request, the ministry refused to provide the full list of companies that have taken advantage of the minister’s discretion. It is also impossible to get hold of the internal guide and all the criteria.
Recently, The duty revealed that the loan file granted to the Mayrand / Alimplus company under the PACTE had been handled by the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, instead of going through the office of the Minister of the Economy.
The company received $ 7 million.