Tomassi hopes to rejoin Liberal caucus

Former Quebec family minister Tony Tomassi says he has no intention of leaving politics following his firing from cabinet.

The former minister spoke with Radio-Canada on Thursday in his first media interview sincebeing kicked out of cabinet and the Liberal Party caucus earlier this month after admitting to using a private security firm's credit card for his ownpurposes.

Tomassi used the credit card belonging to the Canadian Bureau of Investigations and Adjustments, orBCIA by its French initials, while he was an MNA but before he was named to cabinet in 2008.

In a brief telephone conversation, Tomassi said he hopes to be allowed back into the Liberal caucus if and when he is cleared by provincial police.

Tomassitold Radio-Canadahe has not yet met with police investigators or those working for Quebec's chief electoral officer and did not want to comment on the affair.

The MNA for the Montreal riding of Lafontaine, who has not returned to theprovincial assembly since his firing by Premier Jean Charest on May 5, said he wontgo backbefore the end of the session in two weeks.

Tomassi, who was first elected in 2003 and re-elected in 2008, said he intends to seek another mandate in his riding.

Charest said he asked provincial police investigators toscrutinize Tomassi's actions after he was informed of the situation by an unspecified source.

The chief electoral officer launched an ethics probe into Tomassi's activities following newspaper reports earlier this month that revealed BCIA owner Luigi Coretti used his employees to make thousands of dollars in donations to the Quebec Liberal Party in order to help Tomassi, who is a close friend.

BCIA declared bankruptcy on Thursday after it was unable to come to an agreement with its creditors to resolve its $14-million debt.