Former Quebec lieutenant-governor's fraud case going to trial

Former Quebec lieutenant-governor Lise Thibault is going to trial for allegedly spending public money for personal reasons.

After hearing evidence during a preliminary inquiry, Quebec City Judge Michel Auger says six charges against Thibault will stand.

Thibault served as lieutenant-governor between 1997 and 2007.

She was appointed by Romo Leblanc, then governor general, at the request ofthen prime minister Jean Chrtien.

Her preliminary inquiry for charges of fraud over $5,000, forgery of travel documentsand breach of trust began in January 2011.

Based on evidence from that inquiry, Auger ordered a trial.

He spoke at length Tuesday, but ordered a publication ban on the reasons for which Thibault will be tried.

That ban is standard procedure, becausethe reasons stem fromevidence presented at Thibault's preliminary inquiry.

The judge also spoke about which actions might be considered criminal and which were not.

Thibault sat still in her wheelchair as the judge addressed the court.

Outside of court, she said she "always acted in good faith" and worked in the interest of Canadians and Quebecers.

Thibault says the trial will be a "liberation."

She said if she had been doing something she would later come to regret, the provincial and federal governments, who paid her expenses, should have told her.