Hydro-Quebec has paid more than $250,000 to buy training from the firm of the spouse of its CEO, Sophie Brochu, since her appointment, and has even called on her to animate it for her employees.
On October 25, The newspaper revealed that training by Sophie Brochu offered at L’effet A generated revenues of nearly $50,000 for the firm of her husband, John Gallagher.
However, by examining data from Hydro-Québec, we see that $536,000 has been paid to L’effet A since March 2016. Of this amount, $251,000 has been spent since Ms.me Booklet, 1er April 2020.
In total, almost as much money was spent in two and a half years under Sophie Brochu at L’effet A as during the reign of the previous CEO, Éric Martel, to the nearest $34,000.
The state-owned company nevertheless assures that the appointment of Mme Brochu has nothing to do with it because she was doing business with L’effet A long before her arrival.
“Sophie Brochu has not intervened in any way likely to promote Effect A, these decisions have never been hers. In addition, Hydro-Québec has been registering participants in L’effet A since 2016, when Éric Martel was CEO,” explained its media manager, Philippe Archambault, who recalls that it is the chair of the board of directors who handle this file.
That said, M.me Brochu herself has facilitated training. In 2021, seven Hydro-Québec employees took the “30-day Masterclass with Sophie Brochu”, offered by L’effet A, for a total bill of $4,595.
Experts wonder
While we hammer at Hydro that Mme Brochu “does not receive any remuneration or compensation for its participation in L’effet A”, experts wonder.
“Without calling into question the integrity and her attachment to the cause of women, she must be careful in avoiding any direct involvement in the company of a person who is related to her”, estimates the expert in ethics of the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM) Michel Séguin.
“She should not participate in L’Effect A training. It becomes difficult to justify in terms of governance”, analyzes Saidatou Dicko, professor of accounting sciences at UQAM.
“What kind of message does that send to taxpayers? asks Nicolas Gagnon, Quebec director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
For Hydro-Québec, however, there is no question of stopping to hire the firm of the spouse of the big boss of the state-owned company, since everything is done in order.
“The governance of our organization and the rules of ethics are solid, it is not true that we are going to deprive women of relevant training for their professional development, whether it is that of L’effet A or others” , concluded his spokesperson Maxence Huard-Lefebvre.
Effect A declined our requests to interview John Gallagher.
– With the collaboration of Philippe Langlois