Quebec economy minister cleared of wrongdoing in $24M government deal

One of the Quebec government's top elected officials did nothing wrong when the ministry he oversees signed off on a $24-million investment ina company he has ties with, a provincial ethics commissioner has ruled.

The commissioner looked into that public investmentto determine if Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbonviolated the National Assembly ethics code.

Since being elected in 2018, Fitzgibbon has been the focus of six ethics investigations.

In November 2021, Fitzgibbon authorized the province's investment into LMPG, the parent company of the lighting manufacturer Lumenpulse. The investigation into the deal began last fall after a request from Parti Qubcois MNA JolArseneau.

Fitzgibbon served as an administrator for LMPG between 2013 and 2017, a period that preceded his time as an MNAand economy minister.

The investigation was also prompted by the fact that one of LMPG's shareholders, Michel Ringuet, was an agent of Fitzgibbon's blind trust.

Ultimately, the commissioner ruled that Fitzgibbon had no personal interest in the deal.

"Furthermore, he did not act or exercise influence in order to promote in an abusive manner the interests of M. Ringuet or the company," Ariane Mignoletwrote in her report.

On Thursday, the economy minister said the commissioner's findings came as no surprise.

Another investigation pending

In 2021, Fitzgibbon chose to leave his cabinet position instead of losing more than$1 million in personal investments.

That decisioncame following a highly critical report by the provincial ethics commissioner, who had justruled for the second time in six months that Fitzgibbon was violating ethics rules by owning shares in companies that do business with the government.

He rejoined cabinet a few months later after selling off those shares.

The commissioner still needs to complete one more investigation into Fitzgibbon's activities.

Mignoletis looking into the minister's hunting trip last fall on a private island located in the Eastern Townships. At least one of the island's owners is believed to have received government subsidies.