An ex-political employee of the CAQ which has made illegal lobbying has just received disciplinary sanctions at the end of a Quebec lobbyism investigation.
Mélissa Drolet worked as a political councilor within François Legault’s government firms until August 2024.
Our investigation office discovered last January that only a few weeks after her departure from the government, she joined Mapé, a firm of government relations founded by a former political attached colleague. Mme Drolet was quick to register a mandate in the lobbyist register.
However, he was forbidden to act as lobbyist with public institutions, for a year.
This rule aims to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest or real conflicts.
Mme Drolet could not canvass his former colleagues at the Ministry of Health and Seniors for a year either. But we discovered that, for her Celiac Customer Quebec, she said she wanted to communicate with deputies Marilyne Picard and Shirley Dorismond, respectively a contact with parliamentary ministers of seniors and social services as well as members of the Health and Social Services Commission.
“The investigation reveals that before the end of this prohibition period, Mme Drolet carried out lobbying activities as a lobbyist advisor to public charges, ”confirmed Lobbyism Quebec on Wednesday.
Three shortcomings
The Commissioner for Lobbyism therefore confirms three breaches and, consequently, forbids him to register any new mandate for 45 days and radiates all his registrations.
In fact, Mme Drolet has already undergone the consequences of her actions, since in the minutes following our call, she ended all her terms.
She also lost her job at Mapé. It must be said that his boss, Martine Perreault, a former Caquist political councilor and a former political councilor in the office of the Minister of Health, was a member of the Quebec Lobbyism Advisory Committee. This committee advises the commissioner in terms of practical health and supervision of lobbying activities.
Mme Perreault had then temporarily withdrew from this committee during the investigation. She has been back since June.
Mme Perreault specifies that means have been taken internally to prevent the situation from happening again. “We are sure to respect the rules in force at all times,” she reacted on Wednesday.
As for whether mme Drolet signed up without his knowledge or if Mapé knew the rules badly, Mme Perreault did not wish to make other comments.
