QUEBEC - Two high-profile posts were filled in Quebec City Thursday aimed at curbing corruption in the provincial capital.
The new Chief Electoral Officer was sworn in along with the National Assembly's first ethics commissioner, a new position created to help the Liberal government restore trust following a series of major political scandals.
Jacques Saint-Laurent, the new ethics commissioner, compared his job to being the "watch dog in the backyard."
"I will be the watchdog, to be sure that if there is any complication, I will proceed with inquiries," he said Thursday.
By July, the new commissioner expects every cabinet minister to declare all of their holdings, assets, side jobs, and extra compensation to ensure there are no conflicts of interest.
The rest of the MNAs have until the end of the year to clear their personal lives of any ethical landmines.
Meanwhile, Jacques Drouin, the new chief electoral officer, inherits the job of probing electoral financing.
His predecessor, Marcel Blanchet was looking at allegations by Marc Bellemare of cash-stuffed envelopes floating around the Liberal Party.
That investigation was thrown out for want of evidence, one of the last dossiers Blanchet wrapped up. He's quitting after some tense exchanges with the ruling liberals.
Last fall, he spoke out against the government's move to suspend his powers and freeze his project of re-drawing the electoral map.
