In the field of culture (music, shows, books, television, movies, variety shows, crafts, dance, etc.), you can know who gets the smallest dollar invested by the Quebec government.
All you have to do is consult the SODEC (Société de développement des entreprises culturelle) annual business report to identify the recipients of government support.
Unfortunately, this is not the case for companies in other sectors of the economy, as government support comes through numerous private funds financed by the state.
In his article “$1.5 billion of our money is entrusted to the private sector with eyes closed”, my colleague Sylvain Larocque points to a serious problem of lack of transparency within the CAQ government.
“Quebecians,” he wrote, “can’t quite know where.” [est allé le quelque] $1.5 billion that the government has invested in funds in recent years. This lack of transparency shocks governance professionals.”
We are referring here to the private funds in which Pierre Fitzgibbon’s super ministry for business, innovation and energy has invested significant sums, particularly through the Investissement Québec and the Economic Development Fund.
It is impossible to learn from the private funds in question the names of some 1,000 or more beneficiary companies and the amount they received in indirect government funding.
If the Department of Commerce had paid the same financial support of $25,000 or more, the company’s name would be disclosed. However, if this government support is provided through a private fund, there is no need to disclose the beneficiary!
The reason given by Investissement Québec for not disclosing the names of the beneficiaries of the private funds in which it has invested is: “Regarding the list of companies in which these funds have invested and the corresponding amounts, it turns out that this information cannot do this’ is being sent to you for reasons of confidentiality’, we replied to my colleague Larocque.
Of even greater concern is the Fitzgibbon Department’s refusal to disclose the beneficiaries of the Quebec Business Transfer Fund, which in turn is administered by Investissement-Québec. The reason? “In order to protect the confidentiality of information about the financial situation of companies that have benefited from the FTEQ, such a list must not be shared.”
We are talking about a limited partnership fund with a capital of 50 million, whose partners are the Economic Development Fund of the Government of Quebec and the three tax-privileged funds that owe their existence to state tax credits, namely the Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Fondaction CSN and Capital regional and cooperation Desjardins.
THAT’S ENOUGH
With our billions in taxes and savings, we fund thousands of businesses every year through various forms of financial assistance: grants, forgivable loans, traditional loans, venture capital investments, etc.
This is done either directly by the government through the Ministry of Economy, Investissement Québec, the Economic Development Fund or the Caisse de depot etplacement. Or either indirectly through a variety of private funds, some of which are funded from our taxes, levies and savings.
I don’t understand why this whole fine world of public finance doesn’t seem to have any objection to publishing the names of the companies they inject money into, except when it comes to companies that receive government aid from private funds.
MR. FITZGIBBON
At the height of his status as Superminister Caquiste, Pierre Fitzgibbon criticized the Journal on Twitter: “The government-backed funds have robust governance tools that hold the government, but also all private investors, accountable.” Either for lack of knowledge or maliciously, such articles offend the strict managers of these funds.
Mr Fitzgibbon who says that rigor should also mean transparency. The rule should apply to all companies that receive government support through our taxes and savings.
State aid comes with an obligation to be transparent. take it or leave it
