The provincial government is defending its decision to bring business magnate Pierre-Karl Peladeau to select cabinet meetings.
Premier Pauline Marois confirmed that Peladeau has attended two meetings with select cabinet ministers where the government was discussing the electrification of transportation.
Peladeau is the chair of the board of directors of Hydro-Quebec, and this week the PQ government announced a stimulus plan that would depend, in part, on shifting more vehicles to electricity, something that would concern the provincial utility.
Marois said on Monday that the electrification of transport would receive $516 million over the next three years, money that would come mostly from Hydro-Quebec selling excess electricity to foreign companies at a discount.
However Thierry Vandal, the president of Hydro-Quebec, was not invited to the meetings, and on Wednesday the PQ confirmed that no other chair of a government agency has been invited to a select committee.
Marois said that Peladeau would likely attend more meetings in the near future.
Critics have suggested that Peladeau is getting an 'internship in government' by attending cabinet meetings, and political analyst Don Macpherson said that Peladeau could be Marois's first choice as a political successor.
