Craig Gabie, a councillor for the small Outaouais municipality of Kazabazua who had been in the Bahamas since last winter, was relieved of his duties by the Commission municipale du Québec (CMQ), which judged that this prolonged absence was not at all “outside the control” of the elected official.
2nd of July, The Press revealed that Councillor Gabie had been in the Bahamas since the winter, and had thus missed all council meetings between February and June, but that his colleagues had also adopted several measures to extend his permitted period of absence. Mr Gabie therefore still retained his position and continued to receive a salary, despite his Caribbean trip.
In the hours following the publication of the article, Kazabazua’s general manager, Pierre Vaillancourt, notified the CMQ – as required by law – that Mr. Gabie had “failed to attend municipal council meetings for 90 consecutive days”: a mark that had been exceeded in May.
This notice alerted the CMQ, which consequently launched an investigation, for which Mr. Gabie did not wish to be heard.
In a decision rendered on July 12, Judge Mélanie Robert explained that the adoption by the municipal council of a decree on June 4 to prevent her absences from leading to the end of her mandate was not only unjustified, but also came a month too late.
This type of decree can only be adopted if the absence of the councilor is “due to a serious reason beyond his control” and that it does not cause “any harm to citizens”, proof which has clearly never been provided by the council, according to the judge.
She states that nothing in the resolution of June 4 “explains or even addresses the particular circumstances of the elected official’s situation.” “The same applies to the absence of harm to citizens,” adds the judge, who recalls that “these conditions are nevertheless essential” for adopting such a decree.
Given the invalidity of this decree, the CMQ therefore retroactively determined that Mr. Gabie’s mandate had ended on June 7, at the end of a 30-day grace period – another measure granted to him by the council.
“Without a valid explanation”
Even though he missed every session since winter, Mr. Gabie was able to keep his job for months for several reasons.
First, for the months of February, March and April, he took advantage of the 90-day period provided for in Article 317 of the Law on elections and referendums in municipalities. This article states that “the mandate [d’un élu] ends at the close of the first meeting following the expiry of that period, unless the member attends it.”
Then, on May 7 – the day that period expired – the Kazabazua council granted him a 30-day grace period, another measure that allows the permitted period of absence to be extended, without the elected official being relieved of his duties.
Finally, on June 4, the council adopted the aforementioned decree, deemed invalid last week by the CMQ.
In its decision, the CMQ explains that the council adopted this decree “without valid explanation […] whereas only exceptional circumstances can explain this equally exceptional measure.”
A few moments after the resolution was adopted, during the June 4 session, a citizen had asked for more details on this subject. The general manager of the municipality had replied: “The law allows it.” However, Judge Mélanie Robert decided otherwise.
Not on time
In addition to the lack of justification for Mr. Gabie’s absences, the CMQ also explains that the council misunderstood the procedure for adopting the decree, making it doubly invalid.
This is because in order to adopt such a decree, it would have been necessary to do so within the first 90 days following Mr. Gabie’s first absence, that is to say, no later than May 7. However, on that day, the council instead voted for a grace period, and then adopted the aforementioned decree on June 4, as if these two measures were intended to be successive. The decree was therefore adopted one month too late.
It was therefore his disability that explained the end of Craig Gabie’s mandate three days later, on June 7, one month after the adoption of the grace period, on May 7.
Had the decree been valid and the reasons for the councillor’s absence better explained, the resolution would have extended by an additional 90 days the deadline for Mr Gabie to attend at least one council meeting, which would also have reset his absence counter.
Craig Gabie could also have avoided this fate if he had shown up at any council meeting since February 6.
Even though the city’s general manager had declared to The Press that the Kazabazua municipal council could ” runner to five councilors” to explain the decision not to replace Mr. Gabie, the law provides that elections will have to be held to fill the seat no 6.
Craig Gabie was elected unopposed in 2017 and 2021.
Read “A municipal councilor in the Bahamas since February”