Former Quebec cabinet minister’s departure cost taxpayers $300,000

QUEBEC – The decision by former Quebec education minister Yves Bolduc to quit politics cost taxpayers more than $300,000, according to information obtained by The Canadian Press under access laws.

It was already known that Bolduc received $150,000 when he returned to his medical practice last February.

But that sum was accompanied by another $150,000 that went to compensate 15 political employees who lost their job after his departure.

The total bill hit $300,853 and broke down as follows: the $150,000 for Bolduc; $139,478 for 14 employees who worked for him; and $11,375 that was given to an employee in the office of his successor, Francois Blais.

Bolduc’s resignation less than a year after the April 2014 election also forced Premier Philippe Couillard to hold a byelection in the Quebec City riding of Jean-Talon that cost at least $500,000.