Parti Quebecois find CAQ political financing no laughing matter in Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!

Quebec Premier Francois Legault gestures as he announces his decision to stop accepting private funding, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024 at the legislature in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot, The Canadian Press)

The Parti Québécois (PQ) is calling for an investigation by the Chief Electoral Officer (DGEQ) into a "hidden reimbursement scheme" involving the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) financing.

On Wednesday, Québecor media reported that the municipality of Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! had illegally reimbursed two donations made to the CAQ by its mayor and director general in order to talk to the minister, Andrée Laforest, at a fundraising event.

In a letter sent to the Chief Electoral Officer Jean-François Blanchet, PQ president Catherine Gentilcore pointed out that, under the act, "any contribution must be paid by the elector himself out of his own property and cannot be reimbursed."

Gentilcore is asking the DGEQ to "conduct an audit on the compliance of contributions made (to the CAQ) by mayors, councillors and senior municipal officials."

What's more, the PQ president suspects a "hidden reimbursement scheme."

The Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! director general argues in the article that if she had wanted to hide the contribution, she would have done as other municipalities have done and included it in travel expenses.

"The mere mention of the existence of such a practice is in itself very serious and, in our opinion, deserves your attention," Gentilcore wrote to Blanchet. "If such a scheme were in fact used, it would mean that many contributions could possibly have been made in contravention of the political party financing rules."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 20, 2024.