A day following announcing a $98 million investment in Polycor alongside its CEO, Patrick Perus, the Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, remained vague on his recent exchanges with the company.
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“Ethically, there is an advantage in always being transparent to demonstrate the legitimacy of the transaction,” said Michel Séguin, professor and expert in ethics at UQAM.
On Wednesday, the Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon announced an equity investment in Polycor for “maintaining jobs and the company’s head office in Quebec”.
Later, in committee, he claimed Polycor CEO Patrick Perus called it “45 seconds,” “two or three months ago.”
“Mr. Perus called me, one of the four times, and said: ”Is it conceivable that Investissement Québec [IQ] can invest in society?”, he answered a question from Liberal MP Marc Tanguay.
Did Mr. Perus register with the Registry of Lobbyists before making this call? Asked yesterday by The newspaperthe minister’s office and Polycor would not give the exact date of the phone call or details.
“The investment was negotiated between Birch Hill and the Investissement Québec (IQ) teams directly. There has been no direct discussion with the minister on this subject, ”assured Polycor by email.
“IQ heard regarding the possibility of investing in Polycor because it was a large process, with an investment bank. Polycor was contacted by IQ directly, because the company is a Quebec success and they wanted, like the management of Polycor, that there be Quebec capital in the transaction, ”it was pointed out.
Lobbying activities?
Yesterday followingnoon, Polycor had no active mandate in the Registry of lobbyists, nor did its president, Patrick Perus. The newspaper did not get a response from Polycor as to why.
However, if it is demonstrated that a company is lobbying, the law requires that it register in the Quebec register for the sake of transparency, recalled in an interview with the Journal Lobbying Commissioner Jean-François Routhier.
Without getting wet on Polycor, the Commissioner recalled the deadlines of the law.
“There is lobbying when you communicate with a holder of public office in order to influence decision-making,” he illustrated.
“In the case of business or organization lobbyists, the initial deadline for registering is 60 days following the activity,” he explained.
Au JournalJean-François Routhier said that lobbyists who register late are liable to prosecution, following an investigation by his organization.
– With the collaboration of Philippe Langlois
White Star in Paris, Immersion in Las Vegas or even a summer meeting with his fiduciary at the time, Michel Ringuet… this is not the first time that Pierre Fitzgibbon’s private relations have raised questions.
