The Couillard Liberals are planning to review a $200,000 per-year allowance given to ex-premiers to cover expenses for three years after they leave office.
The decision comes following revelations that former premier Pauline Marois used her allowance to offer former PQ candidate Dominique Payette with a $24,500 contract to study media in Quebec City.
Payette, who had already written an extensive report in 2011 on the future of journalism in Quebec, failed to win a seat in the Quebec City region and suggested that media was partly to blame.
Couillard said that the allowance should still permit former premiers to cover security needs. “There is a need for a better regulated and more transparent policy,” said Couillard. “We’d like to bring that (stipend) down to a more reasonable level… so that it's compatible with the financial situation.”
The CAQ proposed a motion Wednesday to ensure that the allowance is not used for partisan purposes. The Liberals agreed but the PQ did not go along.
New PQ leader Pierre Karl Peladeau said he doesn’t question Marois’ judgment.
“Something that's been happening for many years, former premiers had this allocation and it's to the discretion of the one who receive it,” he said.
