The CAQ denies ranking citizens based on their political views

CAQ elected officials deny profiling citizens who visit their offices based on their political views.

A report from the National Assembly’s ethics commissioner revealed that constituency office employees and CAQ elected officials are cross-referencing data from the electoral list to tally up votes for electoral purposes.

The National Assembly unanimously reprimanded CAQ MNA Sylvain Lévesque, who was under investigation by Commissioner Ariane Mignolet, with one abstention on Thursday morning.

The opposition has strongly denounced this practice, but the CAQ defends the use of its electoral tool, Coaliste, in constituency offices. 

“Citizens are not identified based on their political allegiances, they are treated based on their issues,” said Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette.

The Coaliste “is a very good tool,” said CAQ MNA Mathieu Rivest.

Liberal leader Marc Tanguay noted that the constituency office is not the place to keep score and that all citizens must be served, regardless of their beliefs. 

“The Coaliste has no business in a county office,” said Tanguay in a press scrum.  

He emphasized that Liberal MNAs do not rank citizens.

Similarly, Québec solidaire (QS) MNA Alejandra Zaga Mendez said that QS constituency offices do not keep track of people in their ridings.

“Is it everywhere (in the CAQ constituency offices) that we use electoral lists and partisan lists to filter, to judge the admissibility of a county case?” she asked. “That is extremely problematic. We are asking ourselves who is giving these types of instructions to other offices?”

Parti Québécois (PQ) MNA Joël Arseneau assured that there was no partisan work being done in his constituency office.

“How can you be a member of parliament for a constituency and assess whether you are going to support and help a fellow citizen according to their political allegiance? For me, it is the complete opposite that has been happening in my constituency for six years. Partisan political considerations are not taken into account in any way.”

In her report published Wednesday on the CAQ’s Lévesque, Commissioner Mignolet frowned upon the fact that the staff members of CAQ elected officials and the MNAs themselves have access in their offices to data “identifying the level of sympathy of each voter for the party as well as other information of a partisan nature.”

The words “sympathizer,” “opponent,” and “not listed,” are in boxes in each voter’s file. Staff, therefore, have this information when a citizen contacts them.

“This situation blurs the separation between partisan activities and activities linked to MNA’s offices,” said the Commissioner, adding that every citizen has the right to assistance from their deputy, regardless of their political opinions.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews