#Minister #Andrée #Laforest #paid #wine #guests
Minister Andrée Laforest would have personally paid for the bottles of wine for the holding of a “ministerial meeting” where she had invited 70 deputies and members of political staff. An $1,800 lunch was served, with foie gras profiteroles on the menu.
On March 14, 2023, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Andrée Laforest, invited 70 people to her office in the evening for a “ministerial meeting”.
It was impossible to obtain the list of guests, because the firm claims not to have noted the people who participated in the “meeting” for which 100 glasses of wine were rented.
A “ministerial meeting” is a meeting held by a ministry in which a certain number of its employees participate, for the purpose of discussing projects, orientations or different aspects of the administration of the ministry, indicates the Compendium of policies of management of the Treasury Board.
According to the minister’s spokesperson, MPs had been calling for a meeting with Ms. Laforest for some time in order to ask questions about the various programs.
“The cabinet, we had the idea of combining business with pleasure, and organizing a cocktail and encouraging the local economy,” pointed out Élodie Masson. In a second exchange, the spokesperson finally affirmed “that it was not a cocktail”.
“It’s a meeting that was organized at the request of certain deputies,” said Ms. Masson, maintaining that the meeting was held in the form of a period of discussion. However, “there were no civil servants. There were deputies and staff [politique]“, she added.
The minister pays for the alcohol
Probably a sign of the times, while this type of spending is under greater scrutiny in a context of difficult public finances, no alcohol bill appears in access to information requests, even if drinks were rented. The cabinet claims that the alcohol was paid for by the minister for the 70 guests. “Out of his own pocket, yes. From his personal money,” said his spokesperson, explaining that it was only a few bottles.
“I don’t have the number of bottles, but it’s really not substantial. The minister bought a few bottles for the sake of form,” pleaded Ms. Masson, who was absent at the time. “We wanted to make it friendly, really not like a party.”
So that the 70 guests could have a drink, the minister could have bought around twenty bottles.
On the website of the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ), professor at the Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec (ITHQ) Véronique Lachapelle emphasizes that “it is necessary to allow 1/3 of a bottle per person when ‘a 5 to 7 or a lunch, and 1/2 bottle per person for a dinner or a cocktail dinner’.
Remember that senior officials and elected officials recently reimbursed restaurant and alcohol bills after being questioned by our Bureau of Investigation. The Quebec delegate in London reimbursed taxpayers for a meal including a $150 bottle of wine that she said she “accidentally” requested.
Mayor Valérie Plante also reimbursed alcohol expenses after our questions.
Government tasks?
Minister Laforest’s office had bids made for a cocktail dinner and paid $1,472 at the Le Hobbit restaurant for appetizers including Yorkshire pudding and tataki. He also demanded more than $300 from the treasury to rent wine glasses and tablecloths.
According to Treasury Board rules, during a “ministerial meeting”, the deputy minister can “authorize reimbursement of meal expenses incurred in carrying out tasks for government purposes.” During ministerial meetings, the regulation “provides for the reimbursement of meal expenses only during travel.”
Busy schedule
However, Minister Laforest had a very busy day on March 14, 2023. The minister’s public agenda indicates that she participated in a press conference of the Center québécois de développement durable, in the caucus of deputies, in the question period and at a cocktail of the Association of Construction and Housing Professionals of Quebec at 5 p.m.
She was able to go to her office at 6 p.m. to join her 70 guests.
What Minister Andrée Laforest’s guests tasted
THE MENU
Profiteroles with foie gras
Pudding Yorkshire et guide
Crudités like a little garden
Pork terrine with citrus fruits and marigold
arancini with dried tomatoes
Local cheese fondues
1471,97$
Rental of wine glasses and tablecloths
303,53$
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