Quebec's ethics commissioner recently cited CAQ party whip Eric Lefebvre for an ethics and professional code of conduct breach in relation to a training exercise on media planning and buying in preparation for the upcoming provincial election.
"Being partisan in nature, this training is not related to the chief whip's duties," the report on the Nov. 10, 2021 training activity reads. "The evidence gathered demonstrates that the use of government property and services by the chief whip's office staff reaches a level significant enough to be considered inadequate in this context."
About 150 CAQ members took the course during office hours, which was paid for by the National Assembly.
No sanctions were imposed on Lefebvre who said he cooperated fully with the investigation initiated by the Liberal MNA for Lafontaine, Marc Tanguay.
"I have always placed great importance on ethics and transparency and I quickly took steps to raise awareness among all my staff and constituency office personnel," Lefebvre told CTV News in an email.
The report reads that Lefebvre has committed to take steps to recover the time his staff spent on the training so public funds are not used.
"Elected officials are expected to take necessary and reasonable steps to demonstrate that they have neither permitted nor tolerated improper use of state property and services by members of their staff," said commissioner Ariane Mignolet.
"These measures must also be sufficiently tangible and appreciable to be monitored. The analysis shows that the measures taken by the chief whip in this regard were largely insufficient."
