Ex-adviser with Coalition Avenir Québec pleads not guilty to electoral fraud

A former Coalition Avenir Québec political adviser has been charged with electoral fraud by the province’s elections authority.

Élections Québec says Étienne Boulrice helped or incited someone to take $100 that didn’t belong to them and donate it to the ruling party.

In Quebec all political contributions must come from a contributor’s own funds.

Boulerice was a political adviser to CAQ member Suzanne Tremblay, who represents the Western Quebec riding of Hull.

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A spokesman for the chief government whip says integrity is a fundamental value for the party and that the CAQ can’t employ someone who is facing that kind of accusation.

Tremblay is not facing a citation from the elections oversight body and Boulrice, who has since resigned from his post, has pleaded not guilty.

If found guilty, he is liable to a fine of $5,000 to $20,000 and will also be banned for five years from doing partisan work, being a candidate in an election or voting.

Earlier this year, Quebec Premier François Legault announced the Coalition Avenir Québec would no longer accept donations amid mounting allegations that mayors were pushed to pay for access to cabinet ministers by attending party fundraisers.

The Canadian Press reported that almost half of Quebec’s mayors had contributed a total of nearly $100,000 to the CAQ’s coffers since the 2021 municipal election.