Whissell resigns as MNA

After serving the community of Argenteuil for nearly 14 years as the deputy of Argenteuil, MNA David Whissell has stepped down from his post, effective immediately.

He tendered his resignation with the Quebec National Assembly on Friday, December 16.

In an exclusive interview with local media, Whissell said that his decision to resign was not an easy one - and one which he struggled with for months.

The MNA said he was leaving public office to pursue another career as an entrepreneur, taking advantage of his background as an engineer and dedicating more time towards his family.

"I am 44 years old and I am at the height of my working career, and now it is time for me to start a new career path," said Whissell.

Engineering is a profession that runs deep in the former deputy's family. His wife, Francine, is an engineering consultant for a private company located in Lachute and Whissell himself represents the fourth generation of his family to work for ABC Rive-Nord - a job which he left to pursue politics in 1998.

In 2009, when the MNA held a post as labour minister in Premier Jean Charest's cabinet, he was faced with allegations his paving company had received contracts without bids.

Whissell, who had put his company interests in a blind trust, was given an ultimatum by Charest: sell your interests in the family-run paving company or step down as labour minister.

At the time, Whissell said he could not sell a company that his grandfather and father had helped to build and which represented the future for his own children. He instead left his cabinet post and was later cleared of allegations of impropriety by an investigator at the National Assembly.

Lucie Charlebois, the MNA for Vaudreuil-Soulanges and current government whip, will replace Whissell in his administrative duties for the Argenteuil region, which now finds itself without a provincial representative.

"There will be a by-election or a general election [next year], but the decision belongs to Premier Charest," said Whissell.

See next week's edition for the complete story.