Ethics commissioner recommends $8K fine against former Quebec Liberal member

QUÉBEC — Quebec’s ethic commissioner has recommended an $8,000 fine against a former Liberal member of the legislature for using her constituency resources in the 2025 provincial Liberal leadership race — and for obstructing the investigation into her behaviour.

Commissioner Ariane Mignolet says Sona Lakhoyan Olivier held partisan activities at her office last year to benefit Pablo Rodriguez, who won the leadership race but resigned in December following a series of ethics scandals.

Between April and June 2025, Lakhoyan Olivier “actively and regularly solicited members of the constituency office staff to participate in partisan activities aimed at supporting the candidate’s campaign,” Mignolet wrote in a report tabled Thursday at the legislature. Ethics rules prohibit elected members from using public resources for leadership races.

“Staff members were specifically asked to attend events, contribute to recruitment efforts for the party or the renewal of expired memberships, and make appeals to persuade members to vote for the candidate.”

The report also found that Lakhoyan Olivier tried to obstruct the commissioner’s investigation.

Mignolet’s report comes five months before the October election and as the new Liberal leader, Charles Milliard, tries to shake off the cloud of suspicion that has hung over his party since the era of the Charbonneau Commission. Beginning in 2011, the public inquiry discovered widespread corruption in the construction industry and the illegal financing of political parties.

Lakhoyan Olivier was excluded from the party’s caucus in December and now sits as an Independent.

Meanwhile, Milliard, who succeeded Rodriguez in February, said Thursday he accepts the commissioner’s report and won’t allow Lakhoyan Olivier to rejoin the Liberal party.

“The actions that were taken are incompatible with the values and standards we uphold,” he wrote on X. “There is zero tolerance.”

In her report, Mignolet says the evidence shows that Lakhoyan Olivier “discussed the investigation on several occasions with members of her staff in order to convince them of the soundness of her version of the facts and to dictate their eventual answers to questions.”

The legislature member also “modified the settings of a chat channel used for professional and partisan purposes to prevent anyone from recording images and exporting the chat history,” it continued.

Mignolet said the $8,000 fine is justified because of the seriousness of the ethical lapses as well as the “lack of respect of the (member) toward the members of her staff and the national assembly.”

Lakhoyan Olivier could not immediately be reached for comment.

On Thursday in the legislature, she proposed a motion to study what she called “improvements” to the ethics commission’s mandate. Those suggestions include more training for legislature members to ensure they understand the rules, clarification of the rules surrounding the use of resources, including for partisan purposes, and “developing practical guides and support mechanisms to prevent unintentional breaches and foster a culture of compliance.”

The motion was not debated.

Rodriguez resigned in December amid a crisis involving allegations of vote-buying and reimbursed donations during the leadership race he won in June 2025.

The caucus was first thrown into turmoil in November after former parliamentary leader Marwah Rizqy fired her chief of staff without consulting Rodriguez. He later expelled her from the caucus, saying she had not explained her reasons to him and had lacked loyalty.

Shortly after Rizqy dismissed her chief of staff, Le Journal de Montréal published text messages suggesting some party members who had voted for Rodriguez in the leadership race could have received cash rewards. It’s unclear whether the two stories are connected.

La Presse has since reported that anti-corruption police doubt the authenticity of the leaked text messages. The Canadian Press has not verified any of the allegations about the leadership race, and Rodriguez has denied knowledge of any wrongdoing.

Both Elections Quebec and the province’s anti-corruption police have launched investigations into Rodriguez’s leadership bid.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 7, 2026.

Patrice Bergeron and Thomas Laberge, The Canadian Press