PQ MP Pascal Bérubé was cleared following an investigation by the Ethics Commissioner into the use of his email provided by the National Assembly to solicit help from PQ sympathizers in Jean -Heel.
“Although the evidence collected shows that the email was sent from a State resource, namely the email address of the Deputy provided by the National Assembly, and that it is not linked to the “exercise of his office, the use is not significant enough to constitute a breach of the Code”, writes Commissioner Ariane Mignolet.
The complaint was filed by the president of the Legault government caucus, Mario Laframboise.
“The content and form of the message as well as its recipients reduce the risk of confusion between the parliamentary functions and the partisan activities of the Member. In this sense, the use of State goods and services by the Deputy is anecdotal, superficial and minor,” adds the commissioner.
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Ariane Migolet takes advantage of the file to emphasize that a preliminary examination mechanism would have made it possible to avoid triggering a formal investigation.
“However, the Code does not contain such a mechanism in its current state,” she emphasizes.
Bérubé is delighted
At the start of the afternoon, Pascal Bérubé was delighted with the conclusion of this short investigation. “It was an attempt by the CAQ to annoy me and it fell through,” he summarized.
The PQ MP also believes that the mode of operation could be revised, in order to avoid each admissible complaint being treated as an investigation. “It’s certain that I didn’t like the episode, I was exploited,” he said.
In addition to the preliminary examination mechanism, Pascal Bérubé wonders whether the investigations could remain confidential, in order to avoid harming the person concerned, before the conclusion of the work.