The Press Council blamed The Press for a report published in September 2021 concerning the municipality of Val-David, in the Laurentians.
The Quebec Press Council upheld one of the four grievances against The Press and journalist Suzanne Colpron for the report entitled “Petit village, grosse chicane”. This article published on September 21, 2021 related to a conflict between the municipality and the owner of land it intended for a vacation project in Val-David.
The four grievances filed by the complainant, Paul Laperrière, concerned information that he considered inaccurate. One of them was detained.
This grievance concerns the section of the report which establishes a causal link between the blocking of promoter Diane Beaudry’s project and the drying up of the artificial lake La Sapinière. The dam allowing the lake to fill belonged to Mme Beaudry.
According to the Press Council’s analysis, this dam intended to fill the lake had not been maintained since at least 2017, three years before the municipality imposed a land reserve on a large part of the land, in 2020. The link established between the blocking of the project and the drying up of the lake is therefore inaccurate.
The Press Council is a court of honor that works to protect freedom of the press and defend the public’s right to quality information. It receives complaints and renders decisions based on a guide to journalistic ethics.