Ethics probe launched into Quebec justice minister’s appointing

Quebec’s ethics and professional conduct commissioner has launched an investigation into the province’s justice minister, Simon Jolin-Barrette, concerning a possible conflict of interest in his appointment of a judge to the Quebec court.

The Liberal Party’s Monsef Derraji requested the investigation under Section 91 of the code of ethics and professional conduct for members of the National Assembly.

Derraji’s complaints allege that “the ties of friendship between the Minister of Justice and Judge Charles-Olivier Gosselin are proven and known,” according to a news release issued Monday afternoon by the Commissaire à l’éthique et à la déontologie.

His complaint “raises questions of an…