The municipal council agreed on Tuesday to absorb the deficit of $200,000 accumulated by the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM) in 2023, even if Mayor Valérie Plante had decreed a freeze of funds granted to the organization, including the expenses caused a scandal.
The OCPM’s expenses exceed the budget allocated to it for the current year by $193,037, for a total of $3.2 million, according to a budget update by the treasurer of the City of Montreal.
In November, following revelations about excessive spending by the organization’s leaders on travel and restaurant meals, in particular, the OCPM was placed under supervision and its president, Isabelle Beaulieu, was dismissed. Mme Plante also affirmed that the organization would not receive additional funds from the City of Montreal.
But now, the City has no choice but to pay for these budget overruns.
“Following the analysis carried out by the finance department, it noted that expenses had been incurred without purchase orders. This way of doing things goes against good practices. The finance department will ensure that the City’s financial and budgetary policies applicable to the OCPM are respected. The finance department will monitor this,” indicate the documents submitted to the municipal council.
Representation costs, in particular, exceeded the budget by more than $23,000.
“The mayor said she did not want to take responsibility for new expenses, but the administration has no choice in paying this deficit. This organization greatly needs supervision,” the opposition leader at city hall, Aref Salem, told the council.
In a report published in the daily Montreal Gazette On Tuesday, it was revealed that the secretary general of the OCPM, Guy Grenier, held three credit cards granted by the organization, and that he was also responsible for approving expenses.
“The OCPM is left unsupervised, to do what it wants,” denounced opposition councilor Alan De Sousa. “The inmates run the prison, it seems. »
In response to these criticisms, the president of the executive committee, Luc Rabouin, recalled the mandate given to the City’s general auditor to carry out an audit on the management of OCPM expenses.
During the municipal council meeting, elected officials also approved the appointment of an interim president to lead the organization: Philippe Bourke, a former boss of the Office of Public Hearings on the Environment, was appointed for a six-month term.
Mr. Rabouin stressed that this appointment was “essential” so that there was no latency period in the organization’s activities, due to several important consultations to come.
Like Mr. Rabouin, Aref Salem underlined the important role played by the OCPM in municipal democracy, reiterating that the organization must be preserved.