Quebec’s lobbying commissioner has cleared Transport Minister Laurent Lessard and his friend Yvon Nadeau of any charges they violated the provincial ethics and lobbying law.
In a statement released Tuesday morning, commissioner François Casgrain said he found no proof that Nadeau engaged in illegal lobbying of elected officials.
Both the Parti Québécois and the Coalition Avenir Québec painted Lessard as someone lacking judgment this fall for his 2014 decision to hire Nadeau, a friend and entrepreneur who was waiting for a government grant. Lessard had also previously hired Nadeau’s wife.
Nadeau first worked in Lessard’s office from 2003 to 2013. He left in 2013 to become chief executive officer of the biofuel company Pyrobiom. While he worked there, the company requested a $3-million government subsidy. Nadeau returned to work for Lessard in 2014 while he was still working for Pyrobiom and waiting for a subsidy.
Quebec ethics commissioner Jacques St-Laurent is also investigating but has not yet released his report.
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