The ethics commissioner should investigate Quebec's municipal affairs minister, says the PQ

Quebec Municipal Affairs Minister Andree Laforest responds to the Opposition during question period, Thursday, April 20, 2023 at the legislature in Quebec City. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

QUEBEC CITY -

The Minister of Municipal Affairs, Andree Laforest, has interfered in the affairs of the City of Saguenay, PQ MNA Pascal Berube suggested on Thursday, rushing to raise the issue with the Ethics Commissioner.

According to La Presse, Laforest commissioned an architectural firm to draw up plans to transform the Georges-Vezina arena into a sports complex with a swimming pool and passed the $20,000 bill to the city.

"The municipality is very uncomfortable with a choice imposed on it, not by just anyone, but by their MNA who is also minister of municipal affairs," Berube lamented on Thursday, on the sidelines of his political party's caucus in Quebec City.

"The minister is designing the project in a way; she's calling on an architectural firm without the knowledge of the municipality of Saguenay, and that's no small feat (...) I've never seen anything like it," he insisted.

"The least we can do in light of this information is check the practices, and I think the Commissioner is fully empowered to look into this," added the MNA for Matane-Matapedia.

In a telephone interview with The Canadian Press, Laforest denied acting alone.

"I did my job as MNA for Chicoutimi, bringing citizens together, bringing organizations together who asked me to work on a common project, the Centre Georges-Vézina," she said in her defence.

"I've always been very transparent. It was done with my mayor, together, and then I listened to my constituents, so there you have it, I did my job as an MNA," she added.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Aug. 31, 2023.