Nathalie Roy defends the 36 missions abroad carried out by elected officials

Photo: Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press National Assembly Speaker Nathalie Roy

Patrice Bergeron – The Canadian Press in Quebec City

Published and updated on October 2

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The President of the National Assembly, Nathalie Roy, defended, on Wednesday, the 36 missions carried out by elected officials around the world in the last year.

She delivered a statement while refusing to answer questions concerning the transparency and details of parliamentarians' expenses.

Quebecor media revealed on Wednesday that since the end of the pandemic, missions by elected officials around the world have resumed in full swing.

Among other things, in July 2023, six deputies and four employees of the National Assembly participated in the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie (APF) in Tbilisi, Georgia, a country that has very few French speakers.

This mission cost more than $100,000. And for all of 2023-2024, the bill would amount to more than $700,000.

“The empty chair game”

“I am very, very proud to be the official representative of the National Assembly of Quebec on the international stage, just like the 124 other parliamentarians,” argued Ms. Roy, before going to question period Wednesday morning.

According to her, members have a duty to take part in international forums, otherwise others will rush to take their place and speak on their behalf.

“When Quebec plays the empty chair game, it is the elected officials from Ottawa and the senators from Ottawa who take the place and speak for Quebec. For me, this is not a good situation.”

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Quebec must assume its role abroad, but in a context of budgetary rigour, it must be mindful of the use of public funds, suggested the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, with a certain caution: the National Assembly is independent of the government.

“We must still ask ourselves the question on each of the missions, each of the budgetary items to see if we can optimize while respecting the objectives, that is to say, to have a presence abroad. “

The liberal MP Madwa-Nika Cadet justified her presence at the APF in Tbilisi, explaining in particular that each of the participations of an elected official in a forum abroad is justified in advance by a notice of relevance.

“I am proud that the National Assembly, I am proud that Quebec members participated in the APF,” she said in a press scrum.

As part of her accomplishments, she prepared a draft opinion on youth mobility in the French-speaking world, she said.

As for the opacity surrounding the reasons for the missions and the disclosure of the details of expenses, Madwa-Nika Cadet said she was not aware of it.

“I think there is a discussion that could be interesting in the National Assembly about what should be revealed. It was my understanding that it was already public.”

Deputy government parliamentary leader Mathieu Lévesque, who took part in a mission to Brazil last year, the annual conference of the National Union of Legislative Assemblies of the Federated States of Brazil, refused to answer questions from journalists Wednesday morning.

No mission for QS and PQ

Québec solidaire and the Parti Québécois pointed out that their MNAs had not participated in any of the missions in this legislature.

“My priority is Quebec,” said PQ MNA Pascal Bérubé. “I have always said that before serving Paris, we will serve Lévis.” »

His colleague Pascal Paradis added, however, that Quebec needed a strong presence abroad.

“It’s an influence that has economic repercussions, that has social, cultural and political repercussions. So, these missions are important.”

There is nevertheless “rigorous work” to be done on each mission, in terms of its relevance and its costs, he added.

“Quebecers need to know what is happening, what the objectives are, why we are doing the missions.”

All of the missions and their reports can be found under the “diplomacy” tab on the National Assembly website.

At the end of the reports, there is a total of expenses for each participant, with expense items, but without the details of the invoices.