The CAQ and one of its MPs tarnished in a report by the Ethics Commissioner

Photo: Jacques Boissinot Archives The Canadian Press Caquiste MP Sylvain Lévesque (centre)

Patrice Bergeron – The Canadian Press in Quebec City

Published at 12:23 PM Updated at 6:34 PM

• Québec

A report from the National Assembly’s ethics commissioner taints both the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) and its Chauveau MNA, Sylvain Lévesque.

The latter resigned from his position as second vice-president of the Assembly on Wednesday, after having misled commissioner Ariane Mignolet and attempted to obstruct her work, according to the conclusions of the investigation.

CAQ elected officials are not ruling out excluding him from caucus at their meeting scheduled for Wednesday evening.

The report tabled Wednesday morning recommends that the Assembly issue a reprimand, a decision that is expected to be made Thursday, as Conservative leader Éric Duhaime calls for his resignation.

What’s more, Commissioner Ariane Mignolet revealed that the CAQ records data on citizens who contact the constituency office in a list that determines the voter’s level of sympathy.

“The mere fact of having access to this information can give the appearance of partisan influence on the handling of a file,” the Commissioner lamented in her report.

The investigation requested last January by Québec solidaire (QS) focused on revelations by Radio-Canada, according to which an employee of Chauveau’s office had offered to pay for a ticket to a cocktail party for a citizen who wanted to move her file forward. CAQ financing to meet the Minister of Finance.

Obstructing the Commissioner

Ms. Mignolet insists that nothing can justify an invitation to participate in a partisan activity, in exchange for a financial contribution, presented as an opportunity to discuss a matter for which the citizen has requested assistance from a constituency office.

But according to the Commissioner, “although the evidence gathered reveals a sufficiently significant use of state resources by the member's political attaché, namely the payroll of the constituency office staff, for purposes that are not related to the exercise of the office, it demonstrates that the member did not allow this use,” we can read.

However, the Commissioner concludes that Mr. Lévesque misled or attempted to mislead and obstructed the Commissioner in the exercise of her duties, which constitute violations of the Code of Ethics.

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“The fact that an MNA attempts to mislead or obstruct the Commissioner in the exercise of his or her duties prevents him or her from fully and effectively playing the investigative role conferred by the Code,” writes the Commissioner.

“Such disregard for the Commissioner’s role also has the effect of significantly undermining public confidence in the National Assembly and, more broadly, in democratic institutions.”

In January 2023, a citizen sent a petition to the MNA to request changes to the Minister of Finance. Mr. Lévesque assured that the request would be forwarded to the minister, but it was not.

The MP assured that she had been, then concealed that the citizen’s file had been closed in April 2023.

He finally sent the citizen’s text to the minister’s chief of staff using his personal email address in February 2024 and then deleted all traces of the email to avoid an access to information request.

He suggested that he acted in a “panic” to “protect himself” and avoid media hype, the commissioner reports.

“He consciously and deliberately chose not to communicate the exact information concerning the circumstances surrounding the transmission of the text written by the citizen to the minister’s office,” the commissioner concludes. Commissioner.

“In addition, the MP showed partial and insufficient cooperation during the investigation,” she emphasizes.

“The member always trivializes the repercussions of his conduct,” we read.

“He does not seem to realize that it has not only harmed the investigation, but that it has also — and above all — had the effect of bringing the institution of the Commissioner into disrepute. Indeed, despite his targeted apologies, the member has only partially acknowledged his errors.”

The Commissioner is requesting a reprimand, given that Mr. Lévesque's conduct during the investigation “is likely to negatively affect the public's confidence in the National Assembly and its members.”

Mr. Lévesque submitted his resignation as second vice-president in a letter on Wednesday and waived his right of reply.

Regarding her fate in the CAQ parliamentary group, “we're going to have a discussion about it” at Wednesday night's caucus, said caucus chair François Jacques.

Coaliste

As for the party's database, the Coaliste, the commissioner deplores the fact that the staff members of CAQ elected officials and the MNAs themselves have access in their offices to data “identifying the level of sympathy of each voter for the party as well as other information of a partisan nature.”

Thus, the words “sympathizer”, “adversary” and “not marked” are in boxes in each voter's file. The staff therefore has this information when a citizen contacts them.

“This situation reflects a mix of genres that contributes to blurring the distinction between partisan activities and activities related to the exercise of the office of Member of Parliament,” regrets the Commissioner, recalling that every citizen has the right to assistance from the Member of Parliament, regardless of their political opinions.

Mr. Lévesque was first elected in 2012. After a defeat in 2014, he returned to the National Assembly in 2018. In 2022, after defeating Conservative leader Éric Duhaime in Chauveau, he was promoted to second vice-president of the National Assembly.