Thousands of dollars paid in interest on Quebec government credit cards

Quebec spends millions of dollars of your money every year on credit cards. Personal purchases with public funds, hidden contracts, interest charges for cards paid late, questionable expenses; our Bureau of Investigation discovered serious deficiencies in the management of these government cards.

In just over two years, Quebec taxpayers have paid more than $21,000 in interest because each month, the statements of dozens of ministerial credit cards are not paid on time to avoid fees, our agency discovered. Investigation office.

Paying by credit card is a very efficient method, but it can be costly if you don’t pay the balance each month.

Certain ministries of the Quebec government do not seem to have understood this fairly simple concept.

“Interest really raised my eyebrows,” says Annie Lecompte, professor in the accounting department at the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM). Making taxpayers pay interest is not desirable.”

Even in the Prime Minister’s office interest is regularly charged.

A card that is used to pay for François Legault’s hotel expenses when he is traveling and which was used to buy hockey jerseys is paid late about every other month.

“Particular attention will be paid to avoid paying interest,” says Cynthia Boissonneault, spokesperson for the Ministry of Executive Council, when asked about this frequent interest.

Big bills in the United States

It is the Quebec delegations in the United States that pay the most interest.

In the first six months of 2024, the Ministry of International Relations (MRI) had to extend more than $8,000 in public funds to settle late payments on its Citi Bank cards.

Without specifying them, the MRI maintains that these costs arise from “administrative issues which have largely been resolved since”.

Fees are higher abroad, because in Quebec the government benefits from an unbeatable interest rate, around 7.5% per year, with the National Bank.

Every month

This does not prevent certain ministries from collecting good invoices, as delays are so frequent.

In July 2023, at the Ministry of the Environment alone, 85 cards were not paid on time, resulting in fees of $232.

“We understand that it can happen. Not everything can be perfect, especially in very, very large entities. On the other hand, when we see that it is systematic, it means that it lacks supervision,” judges M^me Lecompte, who is an expert in auditing public organizations.

The balance of a card linked to the Ministry of the French Language even remained unpaid for 18 months after an employee left his position.

Every dollar counts

The Ministries of the Environment, Education and International Relations say they are reviewing their payment management in order to limit interest costs.

But many defended themselves from mismanaging their cards, insisting that these fees represent only a minimal part of their expenses.

An argument that M rejects^me Lecompte.

“I don’t think that’s an acceptable explanation,” she said. We cannot talk about what is significant and what is not when we talk about the management of public funds.”