Grieving parents were ordered to buy cocktail tickets to discuss drink-driving laws with Quebec's transport minister.

A grieving couple from Montreal's West Island is calling for stricter drunk driving laws in Quebec in memory of their daughter.

So when they were offered the opportunity to speak to the transport minister in person in October, they took it.

“We were desperate,” Elizabeth Rivera said in a video call from Quebec City with her husband, Antoine Bittar.

But there was one caveat. They were told they had to pay $100 each to get into a Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) fundraising cocktail party to meet government official Genevieve Guilbeau.

“Once they said they would have two minutes with the minister,” Rivera said.

“I disagreed,” he said. “I told Antoine, 'I don't want to do this.' But we will do everything together, he assured me.

So they joined the cocktail party, two minutes each, and were disheartened and unsupported. Guilbaugh was calm, unsympathetic and had nothing to say to support the case, Rivera said.

“Honestly, I was very disappointed when I left here,” he says. “I found it unacceptable that we were being asked to pay $200 to meet the minister.”

Her 26-year-old daughter was a passenger in the car with the drunk driver, who died in 2017. A few years later, Rivera joined the local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). Now she is the president and with her husband is responsible for lowering the blood alcohol limit for drivers.

They also want to see more frequent police roadblocks to check drivers are sober, Bittar added.

Guilbaugh will defend himself after the committee hearing

The two made the announcement Thursday afternoon at a National Assembly committee hearing as part of a special consultation on Bill 48 — the new road safety bill introduced in the fall.

During the speech, their experience on October 12 was discussed. They say CAQ's Soulanges riding spokeswoman, Marilyn Picard, advised them to attend the expensive cocktail party.

“It was in a restaurant. It was a fundraising event. We were told: “You buy tickets and meet the minister; two minutes each,” said Rivera.

Guilbaugh, who remained impassive during the couple's testimony Thursday, defended himself after the session. He said it was wrong that people had to pay to meet him.

“They already had meetings with my colleague,” he said.

“If necessary, I would meet with them without a problem. As I often say, after we talk about it, I will meet with the vast majority of people who request a meeting. Otherwise, my office will meet with them, because the schedules. No need to pay $100.”

Later Thursday, Pickard said on Facebook that he heard the couple's testimony. He said he had been working with them for months and that his family had been through a similar tragedy – a shared experience that brought them together. He said a member of his team suggested he go to a cocktail party to meet the transport minister.

“It was a mistake in judgment and I sincerely apologize on behalf of myself and my team,” he said. “I will make a policy of helping people, with special sensitivity to people who have been or are going through a difficult ordeal. That is the essence of my commitment and it will remain so.”

Disputes arise over fundraising

The news comes at a time when the CAQ's funding practices have been controversial since lawmakers returned to the National Assembly last week.

The controversy stems from reports published by Radio-Canada and La Presse Canadienne that the NNA invited mayors and constituents to a $100 cocktail party to meet with Legault government ministers and address their concerns.

Ariane Mignolet, the National Assembly's commissioner for ethics and professional conduct, has since opened two investigations into Sylvain Léves, NSC for Vanier-les-Rivières, and Louis-Charles Tuin, NSC for Rousseau.

However, he refused to investigate Yves Montini, MNA for René-Léves, and Gilles Bélanger for Orford, despite complaints filed by Québec Solidaire.

Prime Minister Francois Legault then announced that the CAQ would not accept private contributions. His party proposed raising the donation limit from $100 to $200 a year last summer, a proposal supported by three other parties represented in the National Assembly.

At a press conference on Thursday morning, Legole explained that it was his party's MNAs who convinced him to reject the public funding reform.

Meanwhile, Bittar and Rivera continue to lower the legal blood alcohol level for driving from 0.08 percent to 0.05 percent. They argued that the effectiveness of such a measure has been proven in other provinces.

The Liberal Party of Quebec supports this idea and intends to introduce a related bill.