A possible case of favoritism has long been discussed in the National Assembly.
Every day from 2009 to 2012 there were a series of “allegations” and then responses from confused Liberal ministers clinging to the same word – allegations – to argue that nothing had yet been conclusively proven.
Bernard Drainville, opposition PQ MP, pulled out all the stops. To mark the allegedly undue influence of a liberal fundraiser, Franco Fava, he even coined a made-up word in 2010: “Favaritism”!
Projects
On Thursday the roles were somewhat reversed. A Liberal, Marwah Rizqy, led the charge against Bernard Drainville, reiterating that the Legault government favors its elected officials on issues of “expansion, renovation and construction of schools.”
Of the 48 projects, “100% were in the CAQ districts.” All others were rejected. How can that be explained? The only county that has been accepted is an independent county, the county of Vaudreuil [sur lequel] You have goals! » The deputy was outraged.
Minister Drainville then stammered that with 90 CAQ seats it was normal for projects to be more often found in pale blue counties. In any case, the officials are responsible for the “classification” and are based on objective criteria. “We are not interfering,” the minister insisted.
Appearances
Let’s admit that 48 out of 48 projects are actually fascinating. Especially since some of those excluded were still declared urgent in a post-COVID acceleration law.
In an interview, the MP did not hesitate to highlight the appearance of favoritism, but admitted that she had no evidence of ministerial interference.
Minister Drainville’s answer came yesterday during an interpellation (two-hour question period on a topic).
The 48 projects mentioned by Rizqy are among those planned for a single year, 2023-2024. Since 2018 and for the current year, the minister said, the CAQ in power has inaugurated or launched a number of expansion, renovation and school construction projects in PQ and CAQ counties as well as numerous Liberal constituencies.
Among them is Jacques-Cartier, “a riding that the MP knows well,” the minister added mockingly (it is that of the Kelley dynasty; Greg, husband of Rizqy; and Geoff, father of Greg, elected from 1994 to 2018 became). ).
Drainville also underlined with supporting evidence that when two projects were put on hold in the Saint-Laurent constituency, it was at the request of the local service center: “It is not a political decision, it is a decision of the service center.” , and the member of Saint Laurent knows it […]. It makes good television, but it’s not accurate. »
The minister seemed to be speaking from experience! And he enjoyed upsetting Rizqy by accusing him of playing “partially with the process” of determining school needs.
Since becoming minister, Bernard Drainville has often appeared insecure. But yesterday the question of favoritism was more like, “You can’t teach an old monkey to make faces.”
