Jacques Daoust approved Rona sale, says his former chief of staff
The Canadian Press | Posted: August 25, 2016 10:34 PM | Last Updated: August 26, 2016
Québec Solidaire MNA Amir Khadir calls ex-cabinet minister Jacques Daoust 'sacrificial lamb' of Liberals
The former chief of staff to a cabinet minister who has just resigned contradicted his ex-boss Thursday at a special legislature hearing into the controversial purchase of hardware firm Rona Inc. by Lowe's.
Pierre Ouellet told committee members that Jacques Daoust was informed about the intention of government agency Investissement Québec to sell its 11 million Rona shares for $140 million in 2014, two years before Lowe's paid $3.2 billion for the Quebec giant.
Daoust, who was economy minister in 2014, has always maintained he and the government were not consulted about the sale of the Rona shares before it took place.
In an Aug. 19 statement when he announced his resignation, Daoust wrote he "wasn't informed of the intention of the administrators of Investissement Quebec to sell their shares in Rona."
Ouellet told the committee, however, that Daoust knew of the intention to sell. He quoted his ex-boss as saying, "it's their (Investissement Quebec's) responsibility; they'll live with the consequences."
Daoust was later named transport minister but resigned last week after some of Ouellet's 2014 emails were leaked to the media and which seemed to indicate the then-economy minister knew about the divestment of Rona shares.
Opposition slams Ouellet, Daoust's decisions
Quebec's opposition parties say the government did nothing to prevent a company considered important to the province's pride and identity from being sold to Americans.
Parti Québécois MNA Alain Therrien said he believes Investissement Québec's sale of its Rona shares was the result of a political order.
Amir Khadir of Quebec Solidaire questioned what role Premier Philippe Couillard played in the sale and whether he knew about the divestment of shares before it happened.
Ouellet told the committee he never spoke about the Rona sale with the premier's office before this past June.
In 2012, then-premier Jean Charest authorized Investissement Québec to buy millions of Rona shares to thwart any hostile takeover by Lowe's of the company.
This year's deal between the two companies was a friendly one.
Ouellet's chronology of events
During today's legislative hearings, Ouellet presented a list of events which took place in the fall of 2014, when when he said Investissement Québec (IQ) pressured him for Daoust's approval to sell the government's Rona shares.
- Nov. 17, 2014: Ouellet accompanies Daoust to a meeting of the board of IQ. Over the course of the day, Daoust asks him to check whether the sale of IQ's Rona shares would require Daoust or the cabinet's authorization.
- Nov. 21, 2014: Ouellet calls Marc Paquet, vice-president of legal affairs for IQ, to ask him what the threshold is.
- Nov. 21, 2014: Paquet answers Ouellet by email, saying according to the law, the value of the Rona shares doesn't require the authorization of Daoust or the cabinet.
- Nov. 26, 2014: Jean-Jacques Carrier, vice-president and chief financial officer of IQ, asks Ouellet by email if Daoust is "OK" with the transaction.
- Nov. 26, 2014: Ouellet has a meeting with Daoust about Carrier's request. Daoust, based on the information he had previously gotten from Paquet, says that since the decision falls under IQ's jurisdiction, IQ will have to live with the consequences.
- Nov. 26, 2014: Ouellet answers Carrier's request via email, writing "OK."