Should the general manager of a municipality process a request on his own salary? In several small public organizations, those responsible for access to information are in a conflict of interest, a situation to which there is currently no solution.
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During our investigation into the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM), last fall, the person responsible for access to information, Guy Grenier, also took part in the trips and restaurant meals on which we wanted to have information.
He was the one who decided what we would have access to. He, for example, refused to provide us with a copy of his contracts with the OCPM as a consultant, although he had been paid by public funds.
“If it is the same person who is involved in a situation and who must disclose the documents, it is a big conflict of interest,” estimates Anne-Marie Gingras, professor in the Department of Political Science at UQAM.
The case of the OCPM is far from unique. In recent years, citizens have indicated to Newspaper have experienced similar situations in their respective municipalities.
A citizen, for example, directly asked the general director of her village, also responsible for access to information, for information on her remuneration.
“We ask for the moon”
According to the Commission for Access to Information (CAI), it is up to the person responsible to act to avoid placing themselves in a conflict of interest.
“Organizations must also have a process allowing […] to manage situations of real or apparent conflict of interest,” explains spokesperson Joëlle Pelletier.
The law provides that the manager can delegate his role, as in the event of absence.
“We are asking for the moon from small municipalities. It’s impossible,” judges Mme Gingras.
She recalls that sometimes, a municipality only has “a secretary, a general manager and a blue-collar worker”.
“Knowing that the colleague next door can be embarrassed when information is disclosed, this also poses a problem in working relationships if there are two or three or even five in the same office,” adds the professor. .
This is without taking into account the pressure that a mayor or municipal councilor could exert on his general management.
No solution
Anne-Marie Gingras admits that there are few options to resolve this problem which has existed since the creation of the law on access to documents of public bodies, more than 40 years ago.
The idea of creating an external entity that would be responsible for access to information for small public organizations is not far-fetched, but seems difficult to apply.
“I hesitate to go in that direction. If we multiply the organisms, this is not necessarily a guarantee of effectiveness. At the same time, the decision must be taken out of the body, when it is too small. But what does “too small” mean? How far can we go with this?” asks Mme Gingras.