Posted at 9:00 a.m.
What are we talking about
In 2010, Quebec parliamentarians unanimously adopted the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, under the responsibility of an independent commissioner, who at the same time established a public register of gifts offered to elected officials. MPs must declare all gifts over $200 that are made public, as well as those they refuse (but these unwanted gifts remain confidential).
A little more than ten years after the register was created, political scientists Steve Jacob and Éric Montigny, from Laval University, make an incursion into the heart of this subject which fascinates – and which inevitably arouses curiosity – by publishing It’s not a gift! Diving into the heart of parliamentary ethics. Before the implementation of the Code, MNAs managed their gifts “as a family”, for better or for worse. The new rules, however, have profoundly changed mentalities, found the researchers through interviews with retired and contemporary deputies of the National Assembly.
Oh no, a gift!
Closely scrutinized by the population and the media, elected officials fear accepting a gift that could compromise their integrity. However, note political scientists, the presents offered to elected officials are based on good intentions “in the vast majority of cases”.
“These marks of attention or affection are intended in particular to encourage an elected official or to thank him for having moved. Other gifts are matters of propriety and protocol, such as gifts exchanged with foreign counterparts,” they write.
The researchers go even further: “gifts are now scary”!
“Among the deputies currently sitting in the National Assembly, they are even two out of three to consider illegitimate the reception of gifts in politics. The vast majority of the deputies (85%) go so far as to consider this to be a risk. When asked the same question of former elected officials, this proportion is reversed. They are two out of three to find the reception of gifts legitimate”, say MM. Jacob and Montigny.
Composite portrait of the spoiled chosen one
- A man ;
- who represents an urban constituency;
- who has served two or more terms;
- who is a minister;
- who also holds responsibility for a region;
- which has a client ministry (rather than a ministry that awards public contracts).
Who gives the most gifts?
In interview with The Press, Steve Jacob explains that 144 MPs have said since 2012 that they have received a gift with a value equal to or greater than $200. Since the creation of the register, the main donors whose presents are declared by elected officials come mostly from the world of the arts. It is first of all the ADISQ, which represents the music industry, the Foundation of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and Cirque du Soleil.
“As soon as ADISQ, or a major festival, offers gifts to an elected official, he crosses the threshold [des 200 $]while other organizations can also offer gifts, but of lesser value”, says the political scientist to explain the reason why the cultural sector is mentioned more in the register.
Gifts for all tastes
Throughout interviews with elected officials, Steve Jacob was surprised at the examples of gifts that have been refused over the years. One donor, for example, offered a deputy to drop a brown envelope on his bed in his hotel room to cover the cost of a trip. Another even received an unwanted delivery of a kilo of cannabis, courtesy of the Hells Angels.
But most of the gifts offered to elected officials are marks of recognition, particularly when they visit the regions. And the corner of Quebec that stands out for its generosity is Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean.
From yesterday to today
Steve Jacob and Éric Montigny note that the creation of a Commissioner for ethics and professional conduct has profoundly changed Quebec’s political culture in terms of gifts offered to elected officials.
“Now that a non-elected person can intervene and propose sanctions against members of the National Assembly, it becomes more difficult to wash his dirty laundry with the family,” they explain.
The not-so-distant era when Quebec companies specialized “in sending gifts to elected officials in order to facilitate access to public decision-makers” is therefore over.
“Perhaps more questionable practices existed in the past, whereas today, we feel that elected officials are much more cautious, much more reluctant even to accept gifts,” concludes Mr. Jacob.