Mayors have donated nearly $100,000 to CAQ election fund since 2021

Quebec Premier François Legault speaks during the Coalition Avenir Québec pre-sessional caucus in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi)

Quebec mayors donated nearly $100,000 to the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) election fund between 2021 and 2023, according to documents obtained by The Canadian Press from a reliable source.

This comes as the CAQ is mired in controversy over its financing methods.

Almost half of Quebec's mayors and prefects -- 503 out of 1,138 -- have contributed to CAQ funding since the last municipal election in 2021.

• Quebec ethics commissioner investigating CAQ MNA Louis-Charles Thouin

The amounts are $20,535 in 2021, $40,155 in 2022 and $38,190 in 2023, for a total of $98,880.

The compilation does not include donations from thousands of municipal councillors.

In comparison, the CAQ collected nearly $779,000 in individual donations in 2021, as well as $1.35 million in 2022 -- an election year where citizens are allowed to donate an additional $100 on top of the maximum annual donation of the same amount.

The most frequent donation mayors make is $100, the maximum authorized per year.

The Canadian Press validated the data collected by randomly searching for donors on the Élections Québec website.

Last week, Quebec Premier François Legault insisted his party did not specifically target elected municipal officials in its fundraising strategies.

However, The Canadian Press revealed last Tuesday that CAQ MNA Louis-Charles Thouin invited a dozen mayors from his Rousseau riding to a cocktail party on Feb. 8 in Saint-Jacques to top up the election fund, asking for $100 in exchange for a meeting with Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault.

In response, Legault hinted that the CAQ would revise its messaging but reiterated that mayors did not have to pay to meet a minister.

"The file is closed," he said at a press conference following a two-day caucus meeting in Sherbrooke last Thursday.

Québec solidaire MNA Vincent Marissal has asked the Ethics Commissioner to investigate Thouin, citing a CAQ "financing scheme" in which a meeting with a minister is offered in exchange for a $100 donation.

According to the QS deputy, this contravenes several articles of the code of ethics.

The request is currently being processed.

In a Radio-Canada report last December, mayors in Abitibi expressed their unease, saying they felt obliged to contribute financially to the CAQ in order to meet with a minister and advance their files.

Electoral law stipulates that donors to a political party must certify that their "contribution is made from their own property, voluntarily, without compensation or consideration, and that it has not been and will not be reimbursed in any way."

The Canadian Press asked Elections Québec for clarification when it comes to this.

"The spirit of the Election Act in regards to the fact that contributions must be made 'without compensation or consideration' is to prevent a party or candidate from finding itself in a situation where it would feel beholden to a contribution made by a contributor," said an Elections Québec spokesperson in an e-mail. "And to ensure that each contributor acts voluntarily to make his or her contribution on his or her own initiative and from his or her own funds without being subject to pressure or promises from a third party."

To justify his approach, Thouin stated, "Each MNA must each year raise funds for the next election. However, this year I have decided to propose a new formula."

He said he wanted to "combine business with pleasure" by inviting elected officials to a "private cocktail" at a cost of $100 in the presence of Guilbault.

"Geneviève and I will be delighted to welcome you and discuss a range of issues of concern to you, including road and public transit," he wrote.

This is despite the fact that the Quebec Transport Ministry and its minister are supposed to be in constant contact with municipalities regarding road infrastructure funding, public transit, road maintenance, safety and more.

A meeting could allow a municipal elected official to move their file forward -- but they should not have to pay for that meeting.

Two weeks ago, Radio-Canada revealed another CAQ funding controversy involving Chauveau MNA Sylvain Lévesque.

A resident who wanted the MNA to move her file forward was offered a meeting with Finance Minister Éric Girard in exchange for a $100 contribution to the party fund.

The Ethics Commissioner of the National Assembly announced last week that she had launched an investigation into Lévesque's case.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 29, 2024.