Laval taxpayers paid nearly $1,000 for an employee of the mayor’s office to participate in the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) congress in 2022. Then, he joined François Legault’s troops a few months later .
In May 2022, the team of the mayor of Laval, Stéphane Boyer, decided to send his head of government affairs, Anis Telmat, to the CAQ congress, our Bureau of Investigation has learned.
This participation in the congress cost $962 in public funds, including $90 directly paid to the CAQ fund for participation in the gathering, which took place in Drummondville in May 2022.
Mr. Telmat became a political advisor in the office of the Minister of Municipal Affairs the following November and went door-to-door during the by-election in Jean-Talon last year.
He had already made political donations to the CAQ in 2019 and 2021.
He did not return our calls.
Ethical questions
The lawyer and vice-president of the Institute on the Governance of Private and Public Organizations (IGOPP), Patric Besner, judges that the presence of Mr. Telmat at the congress “raises questions”.
According to him, there is a “reputational risk for Laval’s elected officials” if they are perceived as having “partisanship” for the CAQ.
“The usual channels should be favored. There can be very slippery ground if the party in power loses its election. It could affect relations between the City of Laval and the new government in office,” said Mr. Besner.
According to the Ethics Commissioner of the National Assembly, a political convention is a partisan activity.
Employees of the Legault government’s political offices cannot therefore commit public funds to participate or attend during their working hours.
Great opportunity
The Laval mayor’s team does not see an ethical issue in paying to send an employee to a partisan convention.
“The annual congress of the political party in power is, without doubt, an excellent opportunity to network, have strategic meetings and advance the issues dear to Laval residents,” argues the former communications director of the mayor of Laval, Alexandre Banville.
Asked whether the City of Laval had sent emissaries to the congresses of other political parties, Mayor Boyer’s special advisor, Jean-Bernard Marchand, indicated that it was “not appropriate” to participate in that of the Party. Liberal of Canada in 2022, because it was held in Saskatchewan.
The former Minister of Municipal Affairs and professor at the National School of Public Administration (ENAP), Rémy Trudel, assures that it is common to see representatives of cities in political congresses to find out about future directions .
However, he calls for “caution” from the Boyer administration because of Mr. Telmat’s donations to the CAQ.
“He has the right to make contributions, but the administration must be vigilant regarding the appearance of conflicts of interest of the individual we send,” judges Mr. Trudel.
Funding that raises eyebrows
The CAQ has found itself in the hot seat for several weeks for its fundraising activities.
In December, a Radio-Canada report revealed that municipal elected officials felt obliged to contribute to François Legault’s party fund in order to speak to ministers.
“If we want to have access to meetings with different ministers who come to the region, depending on the party, you have to be a member to access these meetings,” explained the mayor of Amos, Sébastien D’Astous.
Last week, the state corporation revealed that CAQ employees were holding out a meeting with a minister in exchange for a political donation.
Opposition parties have called for investigations into the CAQ’s financing practices.