Otera scandal: Just pretend to be an ostrich!

With its $ 420 billion net assets managed for the financial well-being of all Quebecars, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec should be questionable. And in this order, Kaisse must be absolutely transparent. Great transparency.

That’s why Kaisse’s board of directors must now “order” its CEO Charles Emand to disclose the famous external investigation report that was drafted in 2019 on the financial scandal that polluted its subsidiary Otera Capital. Following the revelation of Log.

Although four senior Otéra executives were fired, we never learned the ins and outs of this massive financial scandal. Why? This is because Caisse, headed by former CEO Michael Sabia, has only published a summary of the said research report.

However, with the new revelation of my colleague Jean-Louis Fortin 26 “Operation camouflage” of interest discrepancies in commercial loans It also involved another vice president of Otera in 2019, when it was time to unveil the famous external investigation report.

Michael Sabia was hired to shed “all the light” on the revelations of the Bureau of Investigation. Log. With the revealing summary, it became clear that it had not come to light in public.

Despite repeated requests from LogKaisse’s senior management, led by CEO Charles Emand, is still refusing to release the alleged investigation report.

Kaisse replied that the vice president in question had only revealed his interest in 2013, but had been told to sell him until February 2019, as he was now facing a new revelation about hiding conflicts of interest. Shares. The last point.

• Listen to a live broadcast of Michelle Girard’s financial commentary every morning at 6:50 p.m. To QUB-Radio :

Call CA

It is enough to make an ostrich there. It is therefore up to the Kaisse (CA) Board of Directors to ask its senior executives to publish the alleged external report on its subsidiary Otéra’s financial scandal.

Above all, Kaisse’s board of directors is ultimately responsible for complying with the governance rules of Kaisse and its subsidiaries, particularly Otera, CDPQ Infra and Ivanho Cambridge.

And he (the Board) is ultimately responsible for the rules of ethics and professional conduct and the conflicts of interest applicable to the officers and employees of Caisse and its affiliates.

My colleague Jean-Louis Fortin has just revealed that one of Kaisse’s vice-presidents is hiding the contradictions of interest in 26 Otara commercial loans, violating Kaisse’s governance and its ethics, deontology. And conflict of interest.

In case of rejection

If Caisse’s board of directors also insists on not disclosing an external report on the Otéra affair, the onus will be on Minister Kaisse and Finance Minister Eric Girard to demand that it be made public.

By law relating to Caisse de dépôt et placement, Caisse is required to respond to the minister’s administrative problems.

Problem? It still needs Minister Girard, following the new revelation Log In Otéra, he discovers that there is reason for suspicion.

Last Tuesday, a colleague from Log He was challenged on the issue twice before and after the question period in the National Assembly Halls.

His response: He did not stop answering questions, just saying “no comments”.

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Left in opposition

Opposition parties have, fortunately, questioned the Caisse regime.

In terms of the economy, Quebec Solidarity (QS) spokeswoman Ruba Ghazal said the Kaisse de Depot leaders must come and explain themselves to the elected officials on the parliamentary committee. “How did Kaisse try to hide the contradictions of interest instead of showing her evidence?” She asks herself.

For his part, the party’s Cubacois (PQ) parliamentary leader, Joel Arseno, has accused Kaisse of “hiding relevant information”, while Liberal leader Dominique Angled believes the information may have been “leaked at the right time”.

To show the extent of the governance problem at Kaisse, the Auditor General, Gailine Leclerc, in a recent report stated that Kaisse did not respect many of its rules regarding auditing and publication of interesting conflicts on a number of issues. Investment files.