Rizqy says partisan use of legislature funds led to chief of staff firing

QUÉBEC — Marwah Rizqy is breaking her silence about what prompted her to fire her chief of staff, leading to her expulsion from the Quebec Liberal party caucus last year.

In a statement of defence in a civil lawsuit brought by Geneviève Hinse, Rizqy claims Hinse tried to circumvent the rules of the national assembly by using parliamentary wing funds for partisan purposes.

Rizqy claims that despite warnings, Hinse and former Liberal leader Pablo Rodriguez wanted to violate national assembly rules by hiring staff paid by the legislature for partisan purposes, which circumvents ethics rules.

Rizqy fired Hinse on Nov. 17 and the latter sued the former Liberal member for wrongful dismissal for $500,000 in Quebec Superior Court.

That led Rodriguez to dump Rizqy from the Liberal caucus and a series of scandals that began with those dismissals ultimately led to the resignation in December of Rodriguez, who had only been elected to the leadership post in June.

Neither Rizqy’s nor Hinse’s claims have been tested in court.

Without a seat, Rodriguez had appointed Rizqy as parliamentary leader and Hinse, a longtime collaborator of his from federal politics, as chief of staff.

Rizqy refers in particular to a meeting with Hinse in October where she mentioned positions that would be filled using legislature staff, with the intention to use that staff to help Rodriguez, who did not have a seat.

Rizqy also refers to an email from Hinse proposing to “falsely assign duties to employees on paper in order to link them to an elected official, when in reality they would be working for Rodriguez.”

In another instance, Rodriguez wanted to hire two advisers using legislature funds to respond to Parti Québécois policy, but Rizqy insisted the party pay for those endeavours.

Rizqy reportedly responded that the rules were clear and that staff members would have to be paid with Quebec Liberal party resources.

Last week, Rizqy’s husband, Liberal member Gregory Kelley, told reporters she would return to the legislature as an Independent when it resumes sitting on Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2026.

Patrice Bergeron, The Canadian Press