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She was looking into a complaint that an employee in Lévesque’s office asked a citizen to pay $100 for a ticket to CAQ fundraising event to meet the finance minister.
The sanction remains symbolic but will nevertheless be part of Lévesque’s parliamentary track record.
Lévesque, who was not in the legislature when the vote was taken, resigned Wednesday from his position as second vice-president of the legislature but not from his position as an MNA.
In a Wednesday evening meeting behind closed doors, the CAQ caucus decided to keep him in their ranks despite the failings exposed by Mignolet.
He avoided the media waiting in the hallways of the legislature. In a Facebook posting, Lévesque recognized the error of his ways in trying to deceive the ethics commissioner.
“Unfortunately, I can’t rewrite history,” he said. “I have to assume my behaviour and act in consequence.”
But it was Mignolet’s revelation that the CAQ records data on a citizen’s political allegiances on a list available in its ridings that left the party with egg on its face Thursday. Mignolet discovered the list, tagged “la Coaliste,” during her investigation.
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She deplored the fact CAQ office personnel and CAQ MNAs themselves had access in their riding offices to a list “identifying the level of support of each voter for their party as well as other information of a partisan nature.”
She notes the word “supporter” or “adversary” or “undecided” is included in notes on each voter that information personnel have in hand when a citizen seeks assistance from their MNA.
The existence of the list was condemned by all three opposition parties Thursday.
Interim Liberal leader Marc Tanguay said a riding office is not the place for political parties to check on the allegiances of voters but is a place were citizens can expect service.
“Clearly, it’s not the place for partisan work,” Tanguay told reporters, noting Mignolet also says in her report that such lists should not even exist and MNAs should not have access to it in their daily work.
“It’s not normal, it’s not acceptable,” added Québec solidaire MNA Alejandra Zaga Mendez.
The CAQ moved into damage control Thursday, sending house leader Simon Jolin-Barrette out to meet the media. He denied any form of systematic favouritism.
“We do not check on the political allegiances of anyone before giving them services,” Jolin-Barrette told reporters. “The role of an MNA is to represent all citizens, regardless for who they voted.”
He insisted determining the views of voters is something that only happens during election campaigns.
X.com/philipauthier
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