As the annual summer break looks at the National Assembly, the Liberal cabinet held an unusually early 7:00 a.m. meeting on Friday.
While Couillard said the meeting was to discuss an ambitious agenda his party wants to act on before the session ends, his opponents were calling it crisis management.
The Liberal’s Transport Minister, Jacques Daoust, is under scrutiny after allegations of mismanagement and intimidation in the department surfaced, including claims from an analyst that her documents were altered by staff before they were turned over to a National Assembly committee.
Anti-corruption police unit UPAC is investigating the allegations.
Daoust himself is under further scrutiny following an auditor general’s report suggesting he knew Investissement Quebec was planning to sell shares in hardware retailer Rona while Daoust served as Economy Minister.
“The auditor general reported exactly what she read in the minutes of the board, but I’m saying the minutes are not accurate,” said Daoust.
Rona was sold to American chain Lowe’s in February. Daoust said Investissement Quebec never informed him about the sale of the shares.
“Enough is enough,” said Coaliation Avenir Quebec leader Francois Legault. “How can we keep Mr. Daoust in charge?”
PQ Transport Critic Martine Ouellet joined in the attack on Daoust, saying the party has received word of 15 UPAC inquiries into the Transport Ministry.
The public administration committee has acquired USB keys with more than 2,500 ministry documents from UPAC and plans to release them to the public.
“They are not public for the moment because there’s a lot of information inside,” said committee president Carole Poirier.
