Citizens of Saint-Placide concerned about the crisis in their town are asking the Minister of Municipal Affairs to impose guardianship so that order can be restored.
“Light must be shed on what is happening in Saint-Placide and only your help can ensure that the common good is protected and that the citizens of Saint-Placide have the right to live in a healthy climate that lives up to their expectations. their aspirations,” writes Sébastien Poirier, a father, in a petition published Friday, which has nearly 250 signatures so far.
On Tuesday evening, the Municipal Integrity Investigations and Prosecutions Department (DEPIM) of the Commission municipale du Québec (CMQ) released an explosive report stating “contraventions of Quebec laws as well as serious breaches of the standards of ethics and deontology”.
However, the next day, the mayor of Saint-Placide, Daniel Laviolette, replied by announcing that he would oppose a guardianship, denouncing a “biased” investigation.
Photo taken from the City of Saint-Placide website
Daniel Laviolette, Mayor of Saint-Placide.
It is the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Andrée Laforest, who has the power to confer on the CMQ a takeover of the city’s human resources, which would include the appointment, suspension without pay or dismissal of officers or directors. ’employees.
“Our municipality needs help”
Citizens of the small town in the Laurentians, of about 1,800 inhabitants, are however worried about the attitude of the mayor in this controversy, he who affirmed that he “would not hesitate to act” if ever the CMQ meddles in the affairs of the City.
“This situation seems dangerous to me and shows how much our municipality needs help,” argues Mr. Poirier in his petition.
“Madam Minister, on my behalf and on behalf of my family, I ask you to accept the recommendations issued by the CMQ and to implement them as soon as possible,” he adds.
$500,000 to an employee dismissed, then reinstated
What ignited the powder is the payment of $ 500,000 to an employee who had been dismissed in 2019 for complaints of psychological harassment. The official in question was finally reinstated by Mayor Laviolette last fall.
According to DEPIM, this is an “abusive use of public funds and a serious case of mismanagement”.
“Hundreds of thousands of dollars of public funds have been spent without a solid foundation,” DEPIM lamented.
“A sound management of public funds implies, in our opinion, that the council be supervised in the management of human resources”, it was added, recommending a guardianship of human resources.
However, according to the mayor’s office, it was necessary to do so, because the official “had been unjustly dismissed by the previous municipal administration”.
Councilors also concerned
Two municipal councilors from Saint-Placide said they were “concerned” by the current situation.
“It seems to me that receiving competent and free help from the municipal commission at this time is the most logical thing from a perspective of good management of public funds and human resources,” said Marie-Ève D’ Love in the Solidarité Saint-Placide Facebook group, where many residents express their dissatisfaction.
She indicated that she signed the petition, wishing “that the minister help us quickly”.
Another councilor, Ghislaine Tessier, announced that she agreed with placing the City under guardianship.
“It is time for citizens to regain their peace of mind and confidence in the institution that is the Municipality”, wrote the one who has been president of the human resources committee since February 2022.
“I still believe that the decisions we made were made in good faith and with a desire to do well. They were taken with the information transmitted by various professionals whom we solicited in support of the litigious files”, she specified.
The DEPIM also noted, in its report, that the municipal council “did not have the required lighting, but was rather placed in front of accomplished facts without being able to fully play its role of decision-maker”.
Minister Laforest has still not announced whether or not she will impose guardianship over the City of Saint-Placide.