Joel-Denis Bellavance of La Press is reporting that former Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe paid party president Gilbert Gardner up to $100,000 a year for 7 years out of his House of Commons office budget.
From Google translation:
“Mr. Gardner, who worked at the headquarters of the Bloc in Montreal and occupied essentially to the management and organization of the party, was hired in 2004 by Mr. Duceppe. He pocketed a salary that exceeded $ 100 000 in the last years of his term.”
Bellevance also notes that Duceppe’s chief of staff, Francois Leblanc was paid $90,000 from his office budget while she was getting her masters degree and writing a book on the Bloc. (see here)
More politics as usual in Quebec?
Update: CTV runs the CP story on this only adding that Duceppe won’t comment
Update: Kris Sims from Sun is reporting Duceppe saying all parties are doing the same thing and that Con MP Maxime Bernier is promising an investigation:
“We will be asking for an investigation and expect the Bloc to return any money they improperly spent.” (see here)
January 21, 2012 at 11:23 AM
Just what can be done about it after the horse has left the barn or the rats have left the ship?
January 21, 2012 at 11:39 AM
Quebec again!!!!
January 21, 2012 at 12:21 PM
Yeah, we all recall how Duceppe railed on about the Sponsorship scandal too. How much different is this?
January 21, 2012 at 12:17 PM
This is further proof, IMO, that the expenses/fringe benefits MPs get should be reformed. I would rather see MPs’ salary be raised to $1 million if necessary WITHOUT any other benefit, such as expense accounts for living expenses, for running their office, or for going on “fact-finding” missions. If they think they should be allowed to manage the country, they should be able to manage their own office within their means. If they want to have more aides in their office, let them hire & PAY them themselves.
Having all sorts of expenses covered by taxpayers is an invitation to abuse, human nature being what it is. I’m sure even readers of this blog may have taken a few pens, a stapler, a hole-punch or even more expensive items home from their employer, thinking the company could afford it & it was no big deal. Well, sorry, it’s still wrong.
And may I say respectfully that no province has a monopoly on vice or virtue?
January 21, 2012 at 12:25 PM
Send this to Kady O, she most likely see into it …..or not.
January 21, 2012 at 5:42 PM
Laundering taxpayer money by the Bloc and Quebec “Liberals” seems like an old past time. Despite the determined competition it would seem that Quebec politicians have the corruption racket all locked up, not that the media would notice. 2nd place is neck in neck between the BC Liberals and the Ontariostan “Liberals”.
January 26, 2012 at 2:21 PM
[...] of the Gilles Duceppe using his Commons office budget to fund Bloc Québécois Party activities (see here) is growing as the Toronto Sun is now reporting the author of book on Duceppe was also paid [...]