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QUEBEC — The Coalition Avenir Québec will stop, for now, accepting private political donations, Premier François Legault announced Thursday.
And he is asking the other political parties to do the same.
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He said he founded the CAQ in 2011 do politics differently and without corruption, and the recent allegations have called into question the party’s integrity.
“For me integrity is what is the most precious,” Legault told reporters.
Legault said recent stories about his MNAs, who he said did nothing wrong, can be misinterpreted.
“It’s a question of perception. There are doubts.
“It’s important for me. Politics is tough. I make decisions that are not always supported by all the population, but one thing I cannot accept is that we put in question my integrity, s–t.”
The decision can have long-term effects on his party. The CAQ last year raised $1 million in private fundraising.
Two CAQ MNAs are under investigation by the National Assembly ethic commissioners for allegedly offering access to ministers for the price of a $100 donation to the CAQ’s war chest.
The details of the announcement have yet to be decided. Even if it renounces private donations, the CAQ, like the other political parties, still receives plenty of money from the state.
In fact, the CAQ in 2022 got the most money of any party: a total of $6.4 million which is its subsidy based on the number of votes it obtained in the 2022 general election. By comparison, the Parti Québécois $2.8 million.
Private donations represent annually about 20 to 30 per cent of party finances. The rest of their budgets come from the state.
The details of how this will work have yet to be ironed out.
For now Legault has asked the CAQ’s director general, Brigitte Legault, to inform the Directeur générale des élections du Québec to take the necessary steps for the CAQ to no longer receive private donations from donors.
pauthier@postmedia.com
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