Gmail for government files: Fitzgibbon made a separate band

Prime minister François Legault and almost all of his ministers swear that they do not use their personal email for state affairs, unlike their former colleague Pierre Fitzgibbon.

• Read also: Fitzgibbon used his Gmail for ministerial files

• Read also: Business assistance: Quebec lost at least $ 515 million last year

“The Prime Minister only uses his professional electronic messaging in order to process government files,” confirmed Catherine Hamel, spokesperson for Mr. Legault.

Cabinets of all Caquist ministers, except one, have offered similar answers when The newspaper questioned them about it.

Last week, we revealed that Mr. Fitzgibbon served abundantly from his Gmail account in the context of his duties as minister. “My email and personal phone have always been my work tools,” argued the one who left office in September.

Fréchette did not imitate it

Christine Fréchette, who succeeded Pierre Fitzgibbon, only uses her professional email in the context of her work, assured the spokesperson Catherine Pelletier.

Surprisingly, the Legault government does not prohibit its ministers from using their personal electronic messaging for official files. However, cybersecurity and archival specialists, however, advise against the practice strongly.

Note that the cabinet of the Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, did not respond to the Journal Despite several reminders.

Worried guard dog

For its part, the Quebec Information Access Commission wanted to recall the importance for elected officials to use their professional email.

“The Commission has been concerned with the use of personal messaging for several years. The use for official purposes of this type of messaging ends is likely to harm access to information and archiving, “said Alexia-Mélina Lamoureux-Proulx, a spokesperson for the organization.