Quebec Liberal Party expels Sona Lakhoyan Olivier pending ethics investigation
Decision comes after vote-buying scheme allegations within the party
Quebec MNA Sona Lakhoyan Olivier was first elected in 2022, representing the riding of Chomedey for the Liberal Party. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)
Sona Lakhoyan Olivier has been excluded from Quebec’s Liberal caucus for the duration of an investigation led by the National Assembly’s ethics commissioner, the party announced Thursday.
The investigation concerns the use of resources made available to the Chomedey constituency office for partisan purposes related to the party’s last leadership race, the party said in a news release.
Party whip Marc Tanguay says Liberal Leader Pablo Rodriguez requested the exclusion.
“This is a necessary decision given the circumstances. We will not make any further comments,” Tanguay says in the news release.
In a separate statement, the ethics commissioner confirmed it was opening an investigation into Olivier regarding possible breaches of Article 36 of the code of ethics for MNAs.
Rodriguez confirmed his decision on social media. But Olivier posted to her own X account Thursday, insisting she has respected the rules at all times.
“I have nothing to reproach myself for, but I accept my leader’s decision to exclude me from the caucus while the ethics commissioner conducts the investigation. Rest assured, I will fully co-operate,” she wrote, noting this will be her only comment.
Allegations of vote-buying scheme
Late last month, Rodriguez ordered an investigation into alleged text messages revealed by the Journal de Montréal that suggest party members were financially rewarded for voting for him in the last leadership race.
Olivier’s name, as well as that of CAQ MNA Alice Abou-Khalil, were mentioned by 98.5, a French-language radio station, in connection with the allegations.
The Journal said it consulted messages exchanged this spring between “two individuals who were actively working to elect Mr. Rodriguez as leader.”
The alleged text messages refer to the sale of membership cards and money spent to get people to vote for Rodriguez.
Rodriguez then asked the president of the party to commission an external, independent firm to conduct an investigation.
The Liberal leader has since said his party is putting the Journal on notice over the article to discover who was involved in the purported vote-buying scheme.
Rodriguez said Olivier informed the caucus that she was also sending a formal notice to Cogeco.
Olivier’s expulsion comes just two days after the expulsion of Saint-Laurent MNA Marwah Rizqy from the Quebec Liberal caucus. The leader accused her of acting alone and placing herself above the team following the dismissal of her chief of staff, Geneviève Hinse.
