Finance Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon declined to say whether LMPG needed its approval for a loan previously granted to Lumenpulse, within the framework of the Provisional Integrated Program for Companies (PACTE). As for the guide with eligibility criteria, it seems to be increasingly thin.
Read more: PACTE Program: QS wants to see the secret guide, PQ and PLQ condemn Fitzgibbon
Read more: PACTE PROGRAM: Now a secret guide
“I will not respond because you are going to take me to another area,” the minister replied, when asked by reporters about his role in paying $ 10.2 million in financial assistance to LMPG.
The company has an account of Michael Ringwood among its directors, he said. He is also an agent of Fitzgerald’s blind faith.
The latter sits on the board of the company, whose majority shareholder is Power Energy Corporation (Power Corporation), like Josie Perrol, the wife of Health Minister Christian Dube.
28 files
Last week, the Auditor General (VG), Guylaine Leclerc, revealed that the Finance Minister had thanked the PACT for its willingness to lend $ 68 million to at least 10 companies that did not meet the eligibility criteria.
On Friday, Mr. Fitzgerald said 28 files would have to go through his ministry to get the green light for the loan. In recent days, I have not been able to catch the guide that states PACTE’s criteria.
According to the Minister of Economy, for each request, the officials of the Investment Qubec (IQ) must first check whether the company actually has operations in Quebec, if it is in a dangerous situation due to an epidemic. Opportunity for profit.
For other criteria, Mr. Fitzgerald noted that it depends on the “judgment” of each manager in the IQ who handles the files.
“It’s not possible to think we could have had any structure or everything would have been wall to wall,” he said. “Guide, there are no selection criteria. Choice is the judgment of individuals, ”he added.
The latter does not remember whether any of the companies on the VG list contacted him directly to discuss possible financial assistance.
“It simply came to our notice then. In each case, they have seized it, despite obstacles we can scarcely imagine. ”
The Quebec Solitaire demanded that the internal guide be made public at Salon Blu on Friday. Meanwhile, Quebec’s Liberal Party has condemned “re-mutationism” and the party’s “elastic” ethics of Quebecois finance minister’s ethics.
CAQ blocked this movement.
“Clearly, Minister Fitzgerald is going back to his good old habits, he’s a CEO who manages government money like his personal petty cash. Mr. We need to remove the Fitzgerald mystery and make public the internal guidelines with criteria for PACT, ”said Rupa Kasal, Quebec Solitaire’s head of economic affairs.
-In collaboration with Philippe Langlois and Patrick Bellerose
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