QUEBEC CITY —
Quebec’s Minister of Economy and Innovation Pierre Fitzgibbon says he has no regrets over his actions to attempt to divest himself of his private business interests since the 2018 provincial election.
His declaration comes despite a new report from the National Assembly Ethics Commissioner that recommends reprimanding Fitzgibbon.
In her report tabled Tuesday, Ariane Mignolet noted shortcomings in the declaration of the minister’s interests in certain companies that deal with the government.
Last month, Fitzgibbon was censured by the National Assembly in a historic first.
In addition, the commissioner criticized the minister’s lack of cooperation in her investigation.
But Fitzgibbon, in a news conference Tuesday afternoon with Premier Francois Legault, said he tried but was unable to sell his interests in two private companies.
“I tried to sell them, but I didn’t even get any offers,” Fitzgibbon said, explaining that the unnamed companies are small technology companies in which he has invested.
He said he will not resign from his position. Instead, the CAQ government will institute a temporary firewall so that if the companies in which Fitzgibbon has invested approach the government’s investment agency, known as Investissement Quebec, then Fitzgibbon would automatically recuse himself from dealing with the file. Companies with ties to the minister will also be discouraged from approaching the government for financial aid or grants.
Fitzgibbon will also voluntarily file a special statement of his business interests in the two private companies twice a year with the ethics commissioner.
Fitzgibbon and Legault said the Ethics Code is outdated since it could not accommodate “unusual” cases like the one faced by the minister but which are now more commonplace than when it was first implemented.
The premier said he will work with opposition parties to update the code, adding it is a delicate matter and he understands the need for input from the opposition.
Premier Legault said Quebec is lucky to have Fitzgibbon given his business pedigree and past involvement with Domtar, the National Bank and the Caisse de Depot.
Fitzgibbon said the first priority right now is to deal with the pandemic and that Quebec’s economic recovery is what he wants to focus on in the near future.
OTTAWA – The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government likely failed to keep its deficit below its promised $40 billion cap in the last fiscal year.
However the PBO also projects in its latest economic and fiscal outlook today that weak economic growth this year will begin to rebound in 2025.
The budget watchdog estimates in its report that the federal government posted a $46.8 billion deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pledged a year ago to keep the deficit capped at $40 billion and in her spring budget said the deficit for 2023-24 stayed in line with that promise.
The final tally of the last year’s deficit will be confirmed when the government publishes its annual public accounts report this fall.
The PBO says economic growth will remain tepid this year but will rebound in 2025 as the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts stimulate spending and business investment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the level of food insecurity increased in 2022 as inflation hit peak levels.
In a report using data from the Canadian community health survey, the agency says 15.6 per cent of households experienced some level of food insecurity in 2022 after being relatively stable from 2017 to 2021.
The reading was up from 9.6 per cent in 2017 and 11.6 per cent in 2018.
Statistics Canada says the prevalence of household food insecurity was slightly lower and stable during the pandemic years as it fell to 8.5 per cent in the fall of 2020 and 9.1 per cent in 2021.
In addition to an increase in the prevalence of food insecurity in 2022, the agency says there was an increase in the severity as more households reported moderate or severe food insecurity.
It also noted an increase in the number of Canadians living in moderately or severely food insecure households was also seen in the Canadian income survey data collected in the first half of 2023.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct 16, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales in August fell to their lowest level since January 2022 as sales in the primary metal and petroleum and coal product subsectors fell.
The agency says manufacturing sales fell 1.3 per cent to $69.4 billion in August, after rising 1.1 per cent in July.
The drop came as sales in the primary metal subsector dropped 6.4 per cent to $5.3 billion in August, on lower prices and lower volumes.
Sales in the petroleum and coal product subsector fell 3.7 per cent to $7.8 billion in August on lower prices.
Meanwhile, sales of aerospace products and parts rose 7.3 per cent to $2.7 billion in August and wood product sales increased 3.8 per cent to $3.1 billion.
Overall manufacturing sales in constant dollars fell 0.8 per cent in August.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
