Sylvain Lévesque has resigned from the post of second vice-president at the National Assembly.
QUEBEC — A report from the National Assembly ethics commissioner prompted Coalition Avenir Québec MNA Sylvain Lévesque to resign from his post as second vice-president of the Legislature on Wednesday.
Commissioner Ariane Mignolet’s report concluded that Lévesque, MNA for the Quebec City-area riding of Chauveau, deceived her and tried to obstruct her work.
The report tabled Wednesday morning recommends that the Assembly issue a reprimand, a decision that should be made Thursday.
Conservative Party of Quebec Leader Eric Duhaime is calling for his resignation as MNA.
What’s more, Mignolet revealed that the CAQ records data on citizens who contact the constituency office in a list that determines the voter’s level of support toward the party.
“The simple fact of having access to this information can give the appearance of partisan influence on the processing of a file,” the commissioner wrote in her report.
The investigation originally focused on a report from Radio-Canada that an employee of Chauveau’s office had offered a citizen who wanted to advance her case to pay for a ticket to a CAQ fundraising cocktail to meet the finance minister.
Mignolet’s report insists that nothing can justify an invitation to participate in a partisan activity in return for a financial contribution, presented as an opportunity to discuss a file for which the citizen has requested the assistance of a constituency office.
But according to the commissioner, “although the evidence collected reveals a sufficiently significant use of state resources by the MNA’s political attaché, namely the payroll of the staff of the constituency office, for purposes that are not related in the exercise of the office, it demonstrates that the MNA did not authorize this use.”
Mignolet nevertheless concludes that Lévesque deceived or attempted to deceive and obstruct the commissioner in the exercise of her duties, which constitutes violations of the code of ethics.
“The act of an MNA attempting to deceive or obstruct the commissioner in the exercise of her duties prevents her from fully and effectively playing the investigative role conferred by the code,” she writes.
“Such discrediting of the role of the commissioner also has the effect of considerably undermining public confidence in the National Assembly and, more broadly, in democratic institutions.”
In January 2023, a citizen sent a request to the MNA to ask for changes from the finance minister.
Lévesque assured that the request would be sent to the minister, but it was not.
The MNA assured that it had been sent, then concealed that the citizen’s file had been closed in April 2023.
He finally sent the citizen’s text with his personal email address to the minister’s chief of staff in February 2024 and then erased traces of the email, to shield it from an access-to-information request.
He suggested that he acted in “panic” to “protect himself” and avoid media hype, the commissioner reports.
“In a conscious and deliberate manner, he chose not to communicate the exact information concerning the circumstances of the transmission of the text written by the citizen to the minister’s office,” concludes the commissioner.
“Moreover, the MNA demonstrated partial and insufficient collaboration during the investigation,” she adds.
“The MNA always trivializes the consequences of his behaviour. He does not seem to realize that it not only harmed the investigation, but that it also — and above all — had the effect of bringing the institution of the commissioner into disrepute. Indeed, despite his targeted apologies, the MNA only partially recognized his errors.”
The commissioner requests a reprimand, considering that Lévesque’s conduct during the investigation “is likely to negatively affect the public’s confidence in the National Assembly and its members.”
Lévesque presented his resignation as second vice-president on Wednesday and waived his right of reply.
As for the party’s database, called the Coaliste, the commissioner deplores that members of the staff of CAQ elected officials and the MNAs themselves have access in their office to data “identifying the level of support of each voter for the party as well as other information of a partisan nature.”
The words “sympathizer,” “adversary” and “not pointed” are in boxes in each voter’s file. Staff therefore have this information when a citizen contacts them.
“This situation denotes a mixture of genres which contributes to blurring the separation between partisan activities and activities linked to the exercise of the office of MNA,” notes the commissioner, recalling that every citizen has the right to assistance from an MNA, regardless of their political opinions.
Lévesque was first elected in 2012. After a defeat in 2014, he returned to the National Assembly in 2018. In 2022, after defeating Conservative leader Eric Duhaime in Chauveau, he was promoted to second vice-president of the National Assembly.