Gaspe MNA Gaetan Lelièvre was booted from the Parti Quebecois caucus Tuesday after admitting he accepted gifts from an engineering firm in exchange for favours.
The engineering firm Roche gave Lelièvre concert tickets at the Bell Centre and a free stay at a Quebec City condo.
In exchange, Roche was granted infrastructure contracts worth $50 million while Lelièvre was general manager of the city of Gaspé from 2001 to 2010, before he began his political career.
Accepting the gifts was legal, but Lelièvre said Tuesday he now realizes how this created the "appearance" of a conflict of interest.
"I realize that I should never have accepted certain gifts that were offered," he said.
Lelièvre, who was a minister in the Marois government, has been an MNA since 2012.
At a news conference Tuesday morning, PQ leader Jean-François Lisée criticized the MNA for failing to inform him of the events.
"I asked Gaetan to leave the Parti Quebecois caucus until further notice," said Lisée.
Lelièvre will now sit as an independent.
The gifts came to light in published reports in Quebecor newspapers Tuesday, after the news agency obtained a series of compromising emails.
