Health Minister Gaétan Barrette is under investigation by the Quebec Ethics Commissioner.
The inquiry, headed up by Ariane Mignolet, is being launched following a request from the PQ health critic Diane Lamarre, who claims the minister shelved a proposal to build a pediatric pavilion in Longueuil because it's in a PQ riding.
Barrette denied the allegation, saying it simply was not a priority and had nothing to do with the fact that it was in the Taillon riding run by Lamarre, with whole Barrette is frequently at loggerheads with in the National Assembly.
The inquiry comes after Radio-Canada's investigative program ‘Enquete’ claimed that politics may have played a role in putting the project and others on hold.
The report focused on a handful of Barrette's decisions apparently made despite multiple opposing opinions from staff, experts and network stakeholders.
Lamarre complained to the ethics commissioner that she had ‘reasonable grounds to believe that the minister had breached the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, specifically Articles 15 and 16 concerning conflicts of interest.
- With files from La Presse Canadienne
