A grieving West Island couple who unveiled the latest incident in the widening “pay-to-play” scandal that has engulfed Premier François Legault’s CAQ government had no intention to embarrass the minister they were appearing before last week when they presented a brief at the National Assembly in Quebec City. But they have no regrets, either.
“I answered a question,” said Elizabeth Rivera in an interview Sunday with The 1510 West. “At no time did I want to explode a bomb.”
Rivera and her husband, Antoine Bittar, appeared during a commission hearing before Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault to discuss Bill 48, legislation put forward last fall that seeks to amend the provincial Highway Safety Code.
The Roxboro couple have become actively involved in advocating for stricter drunk-driving regulations following the death of their 26-year-old daughter in a car accident on Highway 20 on March 20, 2017. The driver of the car their daughter and two others were in lost control of the vehicle, crashing on an exit ramp. The driver had been drinking and was found to have a blood-alcohol level of 1.25, Rivera said, more than three times the legal limit of 0.08.
After presenting their brief demanding that Quebec follow the lead of all other provinces and drop the blood-alcohol limit to 0.05 for administrative regulations to kick in, allowing police to suspend a motorist’s driver’s permit for seven days and impound their vehicle for seven days, Rivera and Bittar were asked by Nelligan MNA Monsef Derraji, a Liberal member of the commission, to explain the steps they had taken since their daughter’s death to push for these tighter measures.
In answering the question, Rivera described that after initially starting a petition that had been rejected by the National Assembly, the couple approached Soulanges MNA Marilyne Picard after hearing that her step-son had died in an accident. They felt Picard would be sympathetic to their cause and help them push for stricter regulations.
After Bittar had an initial conversation with Picard in the spring of 2023, the couple said they were disappointed with the inaction. They made several attempts to get Picard to respond to their inquiries about presenting Guilbault with the documents they had supplied – proof of how lowering the regulations in other provinces showed a drop in the number of deaths. But their requests went unanswered, so they gave up in frustration, they said.
Then, months later, in October 2023, an aide to Picard called them to say that if they paid $100 each to attend a fundraising cocktail, they would each be given two minutes with Guilbault.
The couple decided to pay and attend the event, as it was two days after the minister had announced publicly that the government would not be reducing the drunk-driving threshold. The couple were hoping to get an answer as to why, Rivera said on Sunday.
The revelation comes as the National Assembly’s commissioner for ethics and professional conduct launched two investigations earlier this month into two MNAs following news reports that they had invited mayors and voters to fundraising events to meet ministers in the Legault government.
Guilbault defended herself after the hearing last Thursday, saying no one has to pay to meet with her.
Questions about the government’s ethical practices has prompted Legault to announce the CAQ will no longer accept donations from individuals, despite having proposed last summer to raise the contribution limit to $200.
Legault has also reimbursed Rivera and Bittar for the contributions received last October. The couple will donate the funds to MADD.