The end of the restrictions linked to the pandemic has given elected officials wings: eight trips already accumulating $276,634 in expenses were made solely within the framework of the Assembly of French-speaking parliamentarians (APF), including one last January involving seven participants under the Tahitian sun.
Both in Quebec and Ottawa, elected officials took advantage of the post-COVID-19 period to increase their trips to Tahiti, Kigali, Brussels, Paris, Edmonton, Luxembourg and Tirana to participate in the activities of this organization unknown to the public.
Never have these trips cost so much per person in Quebec for ten years (see below).
During the last week of January, while the deputies resumed parliamentary work in the midst of an inflationary crisis, four elected officials and three accompanying persons flew to Papeete, on the island of Tahiti in the South Pacific.
The trip was made in business class and would therefore have cost an average of $15,000 per person, according to our information, although the costs have not yet been disclosed.
French Polynesia was integrated into the APF in 2019. The parliamentarians who are members of the APF, whose mission is to promote the French language in the world, were invited to the heavenly capital for a statutory meeting.
They flew there to discuss climate change, among other things.
On the menu: cocktail dinners, dinner on an island of coral sand, boat tour of a marine reserve, discovery by boat of a mythical wave to observe surfers and work meetings.
little information
For Quebec, the delegation was notably composed of the caquiste Chantal Soucy and the secretary general of the National Assembly of Quebec, Siegfried Peters.
Photo courtesy, APF
Quebec and Canadian elected officials, including Francis Drouin and Chantal Soucy (foreground, center) proudly wore the flower necklace
The Canadian delegation was made up of APF President and Liberal MP Francis Drouin, Conservative MP Joël Godin and Bloc Québécois René Villemure. Civil servants also accompanied them.
Neither Quebec nor Ottawa publicized this trip before it took place. The filing of mission reports is still pending in each of the parliaments.
The two levels of government did not want to reveal the amounts spent, before a report was tabled in the House. During the pandemic, all these meetings naturally took place virtually.
Still Tahiti
Photo courtesy, APF
The Pacific shirt was worn during certain meetings and for this group photo.
This was the second trip to Tahiti in less than a year for Quebec and Canada as part of the APF.
Former Liberal MP Maryse Gaudreault went there for five days last April, accompanied by an advisor.
Their mission resulted in a disbursement of $30,600 (see below).
Canada had also sent two elected officials and an adviser.
– With the collaboration of Antoine Robitaille and Marie-Christine Trottier
Travel within the framework of the APF
AVERAGE COSTS PER QUEBEC ELECTED OFFICER
- 2022-2023 5994 $
(in progress and without the expenses of the last trip to Tahiti) - 2021-2022 1230 $
- 2020-2021 0 $
(pandemic) - 2019-2020 2500 $
- 2018-2019 3648 $
- 2017-2018 2901 $
- 2016-2017 5185 $
- 2015-2016 4211 $
- 2014-2015 2426 $
* It should be noted that some missions were paid for in whole or in part by the APF.
QUEBEC AND CANADA AT THE APF
COSTLY STAYS
- Two days in Paris, France
November 3 and 4, 2022
Quebec delegation of 2 people
TOTAL 9012 $
Canadian delegation of 2 people
TOTAL 5320 $
- Five days in Papeete (Tahiti), French Polynesia
April 18 to 23, 2022
Quebec delegation of 2 people
TOTAL 30 600 $
Canadian delegation of 3 people
TOTAL 25 738 $
- Five days in Kigali, Rwanda
July 5 to 10, 2022
Quebec delegation of 7 people
TOTAL 76 764 $
Canadian delegation of 8 people
TOTAL 78 562 $
- Quebec, Quebec
12 have 15 May 2022
Quebec delegation of 4 people
TOTAL 21 955 $
including $14,380 in restaurant for guests
Canadian delegation of 7 people
TOTAL 3106 $
- Brussels, Belgium
23 have 25 May 2022
Quebec delegation of 2 people:
TOTAL 6875 $
- Edmonton, Canada
July 18 to 22, 2022
Quebec delegation of 2 people
TOTAL 4852 $
Canadian delegation of 8 people
TOTAL 4976 $
- Tirana, Albania
July 25 to 31, 2022
Canadian delegation of 2 people
TOTAL 8640 $
- Luxembourg, Luxembourg
September 15 and 16, 2022
Canadian delegation of one person
TOTAL 234 $
GRAND TOTAL 276 634 $
Some elected defend themselves, others remain silent
Quebec has the right to shine in the world, argue elected and former elected officials who participated in several of these international missions as part of the Assembly of Parliamentarians for the Francophonie (APF).
“We’re not going to have cocktails all the time,” argues former PQ member Carole Poirier, who has participated in numerous APF missions, which brings together parliamentarians from all political parties.
Parliamentary diplomacy has a place to be, adds René Villemure, MP for the Bloc Québécois. “There is an exchange of information, there is an exchange of expertise and there is also the place that Quebec takes in the Francophonie”, indicated the ethicist who participated in the missions in Tahiti and Kigali with the Canadian delegation.
Another elected official who took part in the Kigali mission nevertheless admitted to his political training that he “was not really involved in the group” and had no idea of how the organization worked. He did not want to speak publicly.
For the APF, these are at least two statutory meetings per year.
In Tahiti, there was talk of climate change and the political situation in Haiti, but Bloc member Villemure admits that there were also many more fun activities. “We will learn regarding the country [d’accueil] (…) this is the more social end. »
Justified?
The ex-PQ Carole Poirier believes that it is an intellectual shortcut when people shout at the unnecessary expenses related to these trips because they do not directly bring anything to the population.
“You have to shine in the world to exist and Quebec has the right. We have in these missions a lot to learn and a lot to give (…) I made friends. “, she says. “It’s as if we were asking that all of Canada’s international relations bring something back to the population… Sending two Leopards 2 to Ukraine, does that bring something to the people of Quebec? ? »
The vice-president of the National Assembly who went to Tahiti last month, Chantal Soucy, refused our request for an interview.
Solidarity Ruba Ghazal, indicated that this type of trip “is not in the tradition” of QS. “It’s not a priority for us. Moreover, no solidarity MP took part in one of these trips in 2022, ”she said.
Surveys throughout the Francophonie
Journalistic investigations in France, Belgium and French Polynesia have recently exposed the multiple “beautiful journeys” of elected officials for the Association of French-speaking parliamentarians and cast doubt on the relevance of this organization.
They also reported on the opacity of the APF.
This is an organization for which the Government of Quebec provides nearly $34,000 per year and Canada $140,000. Many trips by our parliamentarians are financed using these sums.
On France Info, MP Bruno Fuchs defended the recent trip to Tahiti of five elected officials and two attachés, saying that the delegation was much more sober than that of Quebec.
“The French delegation is reduced to a minimum while we represent the largest section in number. By comparison, Quebec sent six parliamentarians and four companions,” he said. After verification, Quebec sent three people and Canada four people (see other text).
Inappropriate
In France, the elected representatives of the opposition speak of a meeting “inappropriate”, “expensive” and “which is not eco-responsible. »
Following the visit of parliamentarians to Tahiti last month, the Polynesian opposition party also strongly denounced the expenses related to this gathering.
“La Francophonie has a good back and this declaration of intent will certainly not feed the Polynesian people, any more than the waste of several million public funds for the organization of this event, which is totally out of step with the situation of Polynesian families”, writes the leader of the IA party, Ora te Nuna’a.
In Belgium, a parliamentarian revealed following the trip to Tahiti that he doubted at times the relevance of this organization.
“There are meetings where I wondered what I was doing there,” admitted MP Jean-Paul Wahl.