Quebec minister Fitzgibbon cleared by Ethics Commissioner

Economy Minister steps down Quebec Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon was forced to step down over ethics violations, despite the premier defending him.

The Ethics Commissioner has cleared Quebec Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon of any wrongdoing in a decision to invest public funds in a company where there were links between a director at the time and the CAQ politician.

In her report made public Thursday, Commissioner Ariane Mignolet concluded that Fitzgibbon did not commit a breach of sections 15 and 16 of the Code of Ethics of Members of the National Assembly.

"The evidence gathered shows that the minister had no personal interest in the situation in question. Consequently, he did not place himself in a situation where his interest could influence his independent judgment in the exercise of his office," the commissioner's office reported in a news release.

Fitzgibbon said he was not surprised by the findings of the investigation. The inquiry was launched following a request made last fall by Iles-de-la-Madeleine PQ MNA Joël Arseneau.

The Legault government's "super minister" attacked the relentlessness of certain media and opposition parties, saying they "had better understand what a conflict of interest is."

"Obviously, they don't get it," he told a press scrum on Thursday.

The complaint was about a November 2021 ministerial approval of a $24 million investment in the parent company of lighting products maker Lumenpulse (LMPG).

"Lumenpulse, there was zero blame, like the other reports too. At some point you have to stop," said Fitzgibbon, for whom this report was the fifth investigation by the Ethics Commissioner into him.

The request sent to the commissioner alleged that the minister authorized this transaction "while one of the shareholders and directors (of LMPG) was in a contractual relationship with the minister, acting as a blind agent for his trust."

She further stated that the minister "was himself a director of the company between 2013 and 2017."

Commissioner Mignolet did not see any problem with this either.

"The past exercise of the function of director, which in this case dates back more than four years at the time of the facts, does not in itself constitute a personal interest within the meaning of the code. Furthermore, the relationship between the minister and his then agent does not illustrate a strong attachment that could constitute a personal interest," the commissioner's office said.

It also concluded that the economy minister "did not act or influence in a manner that improperly favoured the interests" of the company or its then agent.

Fitzgibbon is the subject of a sixth investigation for possible breaches of the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. They concern participation in a pheasant hunting party in October 2022 on a private island whose owners' businesses are allegedly beneficiaries of subsidies granted by the ministry of the Terrebonne MNA.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 23, 2023.