(Quebec) Strongly criticized by the Parti Québécois (PQ), the Legault government defends the annual remuneration of $173,000 granted to the president of the board of directors of Santé Québec, Christiane Germain.
We learned in a decree last week that Mme Germain, a friend of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), would receive remuneration four times higher than what had been planned barely a year ago.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Christiane Germain
In a press scrum at the National Assembly on Wednesday, the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, defended this allowance granted to Mme Germain, comparing it to that granted to the president of the board of directors of Hydro-Québec.
Manon Brouillette receives annual compensation of $195,000, or $120,000 more than her predecessor Jacinthe Côté.
“Make the comparison with what Manon Brouillette has at Hydro-Québec. […] There were discussions about the scale of the task. It’s a big task,” said Mr. Dubé, referring to all the work that awaits the Santé Québec agency.
The PQ accuses the government of misusing public funds in the context of the record budget deficit of 11 billion.
The party also points out that the leader of Santé Québec, Geneviève Biron, will earn more than $652,000 for the first two years of her mandate and will benefit from a company car.
“This government makes almost discretionary use of state resources, and it is the hard-earned money of Quebecers,” PQ leader Pascal Bérubé was offended on Wednesday.
The government had the day before rejected a motion from the PQ denouncing the “unreasonable” decision to “quadruple the allowance granted to the president of the board of directors of Santé Québec and to pay for a car for its general director.”