The employee responsible for the air transport file within Geneviève Guilbault’s office has just been hired privately, creating concern among other companies which have entrusted him with strategic information.
Yves Côté was recruited as an executive by Air Liaison after only seven months with the Minister of Transport. A period that he notably devoted to a tour of meetings with companies in the sector.
One of them, Pascan Aviation, says it is concerned by this situation. She was transparent with Mr. Côté in the hope of finding solutions to the sector’s difficulties, she emphasizes.
“All the carriers have transferred information,” said Yani Gagnon, co-owner of the company. “We don’t like to see that information is transmitted to an individual or a group of individuals and that person leaves to work for a player in the field. »
Mr. Gagnon affirmed that Pascan had notably provided financial data on the profitability of certain routes. “We hope that people in government have taken appropriate measures to ensure that there is a transition that has been made and that there are firewalls in place to prevent someone who leaves a department can take advantage of this data,” said Mr. Gagnon.
PHOTO FROM LINKEDIN
Yves Cote
Jean-François Ouellet, general director of the Quebec Air Transport Association (AQTA), indicated that Pascan was not the only industry player to raise questions about this situation.
“I had the chance to have discussions with other people who were concerned about the situation,” he said, adding that he did not doubt the professionalism of Yves Côté. “It’s circulating a bit in the community. »
The Commissioner ethics implied
Yves Côté did not respond to messages from The Press. According to his LinkedIn profile, he recently became “director of customer experience and business development” for Air Liaison. This company mainly serves the North Shore from the Saint-Hubert airport.
In the office of the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, it is indicated that it has consulted the Ethics Commissioner of the National Assembly in this matter.
“The employee resigned and must respect the rules relating to office staff,” indicated the minister’s communications director, Maxime Roy. “He was also informed, upon his departure, that he had to check with the Ethics Commissioner how to comply with these rules. »
Given his professional ties, the firm will not discuss air transportation with Mr. Côté. “We will ensure that the former employee is never the contact if there are discussions between Air Liaison and the minister’s office,” added Mr. Roy.
Earlier in 2023, Mme Guilbault made permanent his working committee on regional air transport, which is looking for solutions to improve service to remote regions following the withdrawal of Air Canada since the pandemic.