By Canadian Press

Ethics commissioner calls for suspension of Quebec economy minister over conflict

Jun 2, 2021 | 9:39 AM

Quebec’s ethics commissioner is recommending that Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon be suspended from the provincial legislature over an ongoing conflict of interest.

Ariane Mignolet says in a report tabled today that Fitzgibbon has repeatedly refused to follow the conflict of interest provisions of the ethics code for elected members by continuing to hold shares in two companies that do business with the government, ImmerVision and White Star Capital Canada.

Mignolet is recommending that Fitzgibbon be suspended from the legislature until he either divests himself of those shares or resigns from his role as a cabinet minister and places those shares in a blind trust.

The suspension would have to be approved by the national assembly, in which the governing Coalition Avenir Québec holds a majority of seats.

Fitzgibbon was absent from the legislature’s sitting this morning.

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Fitzgibbon has faced four investigations by the ethics commissioner, and in November he became the first Quebec cabinet minister to be censured by the members of the legislature for ethics violations.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 2, 2021.

The Canadian Press