The Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) faces fines of more than $36,000 because several of its signs were incorrectly installed during the fall 2022 election campaign.
On Thursday morning, the Director General of Elections of Quebec (DGEQ) published his findings of infraction regarding electoral signage. In total, he brought 78 charges against nine political parties.
The party that collects the most observations is, by far, the Conservative Party of Éric Duhaime. In total, 52 charges target this party. Each of these charges results in the imposition of a minimum fine of $500.
However, with the costs, the amount associated with each of the findings rises to $700, confirmed the DGEQ to Duty. If he were to be found guilty of all counts, the PCQ would therefore have to pay more than $36,000 in fines.
Risk to road safety
The findings show that in certain cases, PCQ posters obstructed automobile or pedestrian traffic. Elsewhere, the DGEQ accuses the party of having committed, permitted or tolerated violations of the law. Mr. Duhaime’s party rejects these allegations.
“The poorly placed signs were not tolerated by the Conservative Party and the associations were immediately notified upon receipt of the notice by Élections Québec, but you must understand that a large part of our volunteers were inexperienced since it was their first election,” wrote the party’s press secretary, Cédric Lapointe, to Duty.
” Everybody makes mistakes. The Ministry of Transport of Quebec (MTQ) has removed more Conservative Party of Quebec signs by mistake in a single riding than our total number of misplaced signs across Quebec,” he added. Mr. Lapointe was referring to the removal of dozens of signs by the MTQ in Sept-Îles. A ministry employee had misinterpreted the directive on electoral posters.
In addition to the PCQ, the Coalition Avenir Québec has accumulated seven charges from the DGEQ. Followed by Québec solidaire (six leaders), the Parti Québécois (four), the Green Party of Quebec (three), Climat Québec and the Liberal Party of Quebec (two counts each), and finally the Balarama Holness Team and the Party 51 (one leader each).