In hot water because several MPs have dangled the possibility of meeting ministers in exchange for a contribution to the party, François Legault announces that the CAQ is renouncing popular financing. A gesture which could contravene freedom of expression, recalls a constitutionalist.
Tired of the distractions linked to political financing which harm the start of his parliamentary session, François Legault uses a horse remedy and puts an end to popular financing at the CAQ which evokes “appearances” of conflict of interest.
He argues that integrity is priceless and hopes that opposition parties follow the same directive.
“As long as there is no agreement with the other parties and with the Chief Electoral Officer, there will be no more private donations to the CAQ,” said the Prime Minister.
Several CAQ elected officials recently asked mayors and citizens to participate in fundraising cocktails, promising the possibility of meeting a minister.
“There is one thing that I am not capable of accepting, and that is having my integrity called into question,” said the Prime Minister.
He mentions that his training will forgo a million dollars per year.
François Legault specifies that ministers will thus be able to continue to participate in cocktails.
“I find it a very good thing that the ministers travel to the different regions of Quebec for meetings at lunches, dinners, suppers, meetings of all kinds, mayors, citizens, representatives of different sectors of our society, he said. But we can do that very well without asking for political donations.”
The Prime Minister maintains that there are appearances that can be perceived negatively due to donations. “I think it’s much more fundamental than just saying ministers. Even a deputy who asks his mayors… there are appearances,” he admitted.
Yesterday, his party affirmed that ministers cannot be bought or influenced for $100.
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Advantage at the CAQ
Thus, by putting an end to popular contributions, its formation will only receive public funding based on electoral results, i.e. more than $6.4 million for the CAQ in 2022.
In comparison, the PQ had received $2.8 million from the state. The Prime Minister denies wanting to strike a blow at other parties, mainly the Parti Québécois, which leads in the polls and which, at the moment, dominates popular financing.
Taking into account the method put forward by the Prime Minister, the opposition parties would receive much less money than the party which forms the government. This type of financing would also harm the creation of new political parties.
However, he asks “other political parties” to do the same and to think about the possibility of modifying the law.
“René Lévesque was the one who began to clean up public finances. The last one to table an important bill was Bernard [Drainville] to reduce private funding to one hundred per person. I think we should go a step further for existing political parties,” he said.
Freedom of expression flouted?
Constitutionalist Patrick Taillon points out that a state ban on political donations, within a law, can “without a doubt” contravene freedom of expression.
“They know it,” he said, recalling that the current system established since 1977 is criticized and attacked from the angle of freedom of expression.
“The State can justify a limitation of freedom of expression and in the issue of political financing, until now Quebec and Canada have won their case,” said Mr.e Taillon. The $100 was validated at first instance, but we don’t know if it would pass the test all the way to the Supreme Court.”
For their part, all the opposition parties spoke of a gesture of panic, a diversion and another erratic decision by François Legault. They all rejected the Prime Minister’s request to put an end to popular financing.
–With the collaboration of Gabriel Côté
WHAT THEY SAID:
“Another spur of the moment decision. It’s an act of panic. Mr. Legault is painted in a corner, he is criticized from all sides and there, he is looking for a way to create a diversion” – the co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois
“Obviously it doesn’t make any sense. All we ask of the CAQ is to stop offering compensation for donations” – PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon
“It is not because his ministers do not respect the law that we must prohibit popular financing. We will continue to exercise the law and I invite Mr. François Legault to respect the law and ask his ministers to respect it” – the parliamentary leader of the PLQ Moncef Derraji
“It’s a big diversion, we’re not changing the law because the CAQ lacks ethics” – the leader of the Conservative Party, Éric Duhaime
“We are relaunching the debate on the relevance of keeping private financing or not. The difficulties that it can pose for members, elected officials, to have this kind of financing” – the president of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel
“We are going to put the ball in the game. We are going to discuss with them [les oppositions] because there are doubts. In this moment, we respected the law, we were ethical, we had integrity” – the Minister of Democratic Institutions, Jean-François Roberge
“I would strongly disagree if the National Assembly said that it should no longer have funding from the public. A democracy needs new parties, new movements, to be able to obtain funds to campaign” – the mayor of QuebecBruno Marchand
“I would not be closed to the idea of thinking about alternative financing methods or changes to the Electoral Act to ensure financing” – the Quebec city councilor firstAlicia Despins
“It must not be removed. That’s $100 there (in donations per year)” – the leader of the Québec Priority TeamPatrick Paquet,
POPULAR DONATIONS 2023
CAQ: $827,664.00
PLQ: $280,870.30
QS: $296,946.77
PQ: $792,939.47
PCQ: $58,811.80
STATE FINANCING 2023
CAQ: $4,953,192.52
PLQ: $1,899,260.50
QS: $2,020,519.71
PQ: $1,925,133.49
PCQ: $1,481,032.75
Source: Chief Electoral Officer