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Vincent Marissal has withdrawn his candidacy for the Parti Québécois in the riding of Taschereau following allegations of an ethics breach, Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon announced Wednesday.
This news comes just two days after Marissal, who has been sitting as an Independent since leaving Québec Solidaire, was named the candidate for a riding that previously supported the PQ for decades.
“As much as I believe we must be flexible and welcoming when it comes to bringing together people whose thinking has evolved, I believe that when it comes to ethical questions or the use of public funds — even for alleged wrongdoings or issues — we must take a strict zero-tolerance approach,” St-Pierre Plamondon wrote on social media Wednesday.
He said allegations surfaced that Marissal used an online home-exchange platform to swap his Quebec City apartment — which is funded by a National Assembly housing allowance — for free accommodation abroad.
St-Pierre Plamondon noted that while no money changed hands, the arrangement still provided Marissal with a valuable financial benefit derived from taxpayer funds.
St-Pierre Plamondon said the situation fails to meet the party’s code of ethics, which strictly forbids deriving personal benefit from National Assembly allowances.
“In these circumstances, even though I have a great deal of respect for Vincent Marissal, I must apply the principles that guide the Parti Québécois without exception,” St-Pierre Plamondon said, adding the party will announce a replacement candidate in Taschereau on Thursday.
Marissal did not leave Québec Solidaire quietly last year. The caucus suspended him, saying he’d had discussions with the PQ about the possibility of running for them in the next election.
Marissal said at the time the decision to leave the QS was voluntary. He later announced he would not be running in the next election.
In his post Monday announcing Marissal was joining the party, St-Pierre Plamondon said Marissal was his desk neighbour in the Blue Room at the National Assembly for the past four years.