QUEBEC - The Crown's former representative in Quebec is going to trial on fraud charges.
Lise Thibault, the province's former lieutenant-governor, was ordered to stand trial by the court in a decision handed down Tuesday in Quebec City.
The Queen's former Quebec representative will return to court on May 28 to set a date for her jury trial.
She pleaded not guilty to the charges in October 2009.
The preliminary hearing was subject to a publication ban, but Thibault told reporters on Tuesday that she regretted the court's decision.
"I have always acted in good faith and worked in the interest of Canadian Quebecers," Thibault said.
Thibault is facing six charges over events that occurred between 1997 and 2007, when she was the province's lieutenant-governor.
She is accused of making $700,000 in improper expense claims. The details were made public in a joint report by former federal auditor general Sheila Fraser and her Quebec counterpart Renaud Lachance.
The report said some claims were for trips, meals with friends, ski and golf lessons, as well as for the transport of specially adapted golf carts from Quebec to Florida.
The wheelchair-bound Thibault, 73, is charged with two counts of breach of trust, two of fraud and two related to false or counterfeit documents.
She made a brief statement outside the Quebec courthouse, where she said she looked forward to an eventual trial that would allow her to defend herself.
"You know, the trial will allow me to speak and one day I'll write my autobiography so that citizens know how people who have the courage to enter political life pay a price," Thibault said.
