Newly uncovered emails throw suspicion on whether an ex-minister arrested for corruption charges worked for Premier Couillard’s leadership campaign.
Marc Yvan Côté is a disgraced former politician who was kicked out of the Federal Liberal Party for life, but what kind of influence does he have in Quebec?
Côté was arrested last year alongside former deputy premier Nathalie Normandeau by the province’s anti-corruption squad. However, the reputation of the one-time health minister was tarnished long before that.
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Premier Philippe Couillard has always denied that Côté, a big Liberal fundraiser, had any influence over his government. During the Liberal leadership race in 2013, Couillard says he gave clear instructions to his campaign staff not to work with Côté.
But on Thursday, the Journal de Quebec published emails — one from a a long-standing Liberal member thanking Côté for his help in getting Couillard elected.
“Look, I’m just going to reiterate very, very firmly and unequivocally that M. Côté had absolutely no role in my campaign,” Couillard said.
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The CAQ opposition is calling for a hearing to probe further into these latest allegations.
“We have to find out why he lied,” leader François Legault said. “We need some answers from Philippe Couillard, from Sam Hamad, who was president of the leadership race of Philippe Couillard, from Stephane Billette who was in charge of the organization, and received as a gift to be whip of the government, and from Josée Lévesque.”
Lévesque was one of Couillard’s campaign managers. She spoke with the allegedly corrupt Liberal, but the premier said their phone call was of a personal nature.
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“The contact that she made after the date of the vote was absolutely unrelated to political organization, be it at the party level or the leadership race level,” Couillard said. “People have friendships — this is not what we’re talking about.”
This is not the first time Marc Yvan Côté has caused trouble for Couillard. The premier kicked former treasury board president Sam Hamad out of cabinet after allegations he gave privileged information to a firm run by Côté.
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