The Minister of Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, assures that he has nothing to reproach himself for his pheasant hunting party on a private island belonging to wealthy businessmen.
In a Thursday morning press scrum, 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.
It would then 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 JournalMr. 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 that I granted that day,” he concluded with a touch of irony.
Not on register
The Liberal Opposition has sent a formal inquiry to the Ethics Commissioner.
In his request, Liberal 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.
“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 subsidies,” 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 added his voice to the request for investigation by 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 on his own?” he asked.
“I don’t understand, I’m never invited to these pheasant hunts,” added Mr. Plamondon ironically. No one ever asked me to dress up with a period rifle.”
Similarly, MP Vincent Marissal, from Québec solidaire, indicated that his party was in the process of drafting an official request for an investigation addressed to the Ethics Commissioner.