Lise Thibault, the embattled former lieutenant governor who's the subject of two police investigations for alleged over-spending, still hasn't reimbursed taxpayers two years after a scathing auditor's report.
PQ critic Agnes Maltais raised the matter in the legislature on Wednesday, saying the file appears stalled despite SQ and RCMP probes that concluded months ago.
"Nothing has happened for eight months," Matlais said.
"Is it because this is a position with no oversight and (Liberals) are afraid to sue the Queen?"
Martine Berube, a spokeswoman for the Crown, said the police reports are currently being studied but that no decision has been made on possible criminal or civil proceedings.
Irregular spending
Thibault, who was lieutenant-governor from 1997 to 2007, quit in disgrace after her lavish spending habits became public knowledge.
She's accused of using $700,000 of her budget for personal expenses including:
- $4,000 for a family birthday party.
- $2,800 for two meals at a Quebec City restaurant
- A $2,300 trip to Ontario
- A $1,600 golf trip to New Brunswick
- $5,600 for two ski trips to Mont Tremblant.
Auditors also reported she rented her bodyguard's house outside of Quebec City and charged it to federal taxpayers even though she was already getting a housing allowance from Quebec.
Thibault later defended her spending before a legislature committee, saying she was on duty 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Thibault even spent taxpayers' money after she quit, including more than $21,000 for lawyer's fees, nearly $17,000 for a communications firm and $18,000 for a personal assistant.
Quebec's auditor general blasted the province and the federal government for failing to properly monitor Thibault's expenses.
'Complicated' case: Liberals
Liberal MNA Vincent Auclair, a member of the committee that oversees public administration, says the Thibault case is complicated and will take time to sort out on the administrative and judicial level.
- With Files from The Canadian Press -
