Quebec Liberal Party fallout: Geneviève Hinse responds to Marwah Rizqy

The saga within the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) continues. Geneviève Hinse is rejecting claims by Marwah Rizqy that she tried to circumvent the rules so that “a staff member paid by the National Assembly would devote themselves to partisan work instead of their duties.”

In court documents filed with the Quebec Superior Court and obtained by The Canadian Press, it states that “it is false to claim that Ms. Hinse proposed ‘falsely assigning duties on paper to employees to attach them to an elected member, when they would in reality be working for Mr. Rodriguez,’” as Rizqy alleges in her defence.

After his victory at the head of the Liberals, Pablo Rodriguez, who did not have a seat in the National Assembly, appointed Marwah Rizqy as parliamentary leader. Geneviève Hinse, a longtime associate of Rodriguez, then became his chief of staff.

But relations between the two women deteriorated. Rizqy dismissed Hinse without first discussing it with the Liberal leader. In response, Rodriguez expelled the Saint-Laurent MNA from caucus.

Hinse is suing Rizqy for $500,000 for what she calls an “unfounded” dismissal.

In her statement of defence, Rizqy argues that despite her warnings, Hinse and Rodriguez wanted to contravene National Assembly rules by disregarding the ethics commissioner and hiring staff paid by the Assembly for “partisan purposes.”

In her reply, Hinse argues it is “common practice” for staff members and elected officials to devote “significant hours to partisan activities beyond their duties, which are legally and contractually limited to a maximum of 40 hours per week,” as long as they remain available for their other tasks.

She says this is even more true when employees are working with a leader who does not hold a seat in the legislature. “It is precisely for this reason that Ms. Hinse wanted to ensure with the ethics commissioner that the use of parliamentary resources complied with the rules,” the document states.

According to Rizqy, Rodriguez also wanted two special advisers to be hired using National Assembly funds to respond to the Parti Québécois’ Blue Book.

In Hinse’s filing, it states that “at no time did Ms. Hinse or Mr. Rodriguez dictate that they (the two special advisers) be hired through the National Assembly.”

“It is also highly defamatory to suggest, as Ms. Rizqy does, that Ms. Hinse, Mr. Rodriguez or the candidates considered for these roles would have accepted a mandate that did not comply with National Assembly rules,” the document adds.

Hinse also says she never showed “insubordination related to the use of parliamentary resources for partisan purposes,” as Rizqy alleges.

She argues Rizqy had no “serious fault” to reproach her for and that the refusal to justify the dismissal was intended to harm both her and Rodriguez.

Hinse’s dismissal was the triggering event that plunged the PLQ into a deep crisis that ended with Rodriguez’s resignation last December. He was later touched by allegations of irregularities in the financing of his leadership campaign.

Rizqy made a notable return to the National Assembly on Tuesday. The Saint-Laurent MNA said she is at peace with herself and with the actions she was “forced” to take.

Rizqy declined to comment further on the events of recent months that have shaken the PLQ because of the “defamation SLAPP suit” filed against her.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews