The number 2 of the Plante administration resigned two days before the presentation of his budget on Monday, saying that it was becoming “absolutely impossible” to continue doing his job.
This resignation comes 10 days after the revelations began concerning her travel and restaurant expenses when she headed the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM).
She actually has the announcement at 3 p.m. at Montreal city hall, alone in front of her lectern.
“It is important to me that the future of the City continues peacefully,” said Mr.me Ollivier, without his voice faltering. “That’s why I announced to M.me Plant my intention to withdraw from the functions of president and member of the executive committee. » Several black women elected under the banner of the Plante administration came to attend this announcement.
Mme Ollivier explained his resignation by citing a significant quantity of “violent, misogynistic and racist” messages received in the last few days. “You understand that in this kind of context, when we have important meetings ahead of us. […] It is becoming absolutely impossible to allow the current controversy to undermine public confidence. »
She remains a local elected official in Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie and plans to testify before a municipal council committee.
“She faced the music”
“The climate was no longer favorable to the exercise of his functions,” added Valérie Plante, an hour after the announcement of the main person concerned. “Mme Ollivier took responsibility for her actions, she faced the music, she made the difficult decisions that were necessary. »
The mayor of Plateau-Mont-Royal, Luc Rabouin, takes over as president of the executive committee. It is the mayor of the South-West, Benoit Dorais, who will present the 2024 budget on Wednesday, alongside Mme Plant.
Mme Ollivier could return to the Plante administration, but “she will never again be president of the executive committee,” said the mayor.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Luc Rabouin, Valérie Plante and Benoit Dorais
The mayor added that “unbearable questions remain unanswered” and that the leaders of the OCPM must take their responsibilities. They “no longer have the confidence of the municipal council”, clearly stated Mr.me Plant.
The leader of the opposition at city hall, Aref Salem, affirmed that Dominique Ollivier’s decision “was the right thing to do”. “It was starting to undermine the population’s confidence in the entire municipal administration,” he lamented. “The actions that were taken were not up to the task. […] Ethically, morally, we have no right. »
Mr. Salem estimated that Valérie Plante “will emerge weakened” from this episode.
Travels around the world
Since the beginning of the month, Mme Ollivier was at the center of a controversy surrounding her travel and restaurant expenses when she headed the OCPM, between 2014 and 2021. A $347 oyster dinner for two people in a Parisian restaurant had a particular impact the spirits. The expenses were revealed by Quebecor media.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Dominique Ollivier
With barely fifteen employees, the OCPM is the City of Montreal service that costs the most in representation expenses. The organization’s staff has visited Spain, Mexico, Brazil, England, Tunisia, Morocco, Australia, Switzerland, Ivory Coast and Mozambique in recent years .
Last week, Mme Ollivier admitted that citizens’ confidence was shaken following these revelations. “It is not because expenses are legal and permitted that they are acceptable,” according to the president of the executive committee. “I particularly regret that certain expenses affect the population’s feeling of confidence and I am the first to say that things must change within the OCPM. » Until last Friday, Valérie Plante defended her number 2 tooth and nail.
As president of the executive committee, Dominique Ollivier was to present the City of Montreal’s budget on Wednesday.
Born in Haiti in 1964, Mme Ollivier has a background in engineering and a master’s degree in public administration from the National School of Public Administration, according to his political party’s website. She was a long-time activist in the Parti Québécois and worked in the PQ and Bloc cabinets before arriving on the municipal scene. She was president of the OCPM from 2014 to 2021.
The story so far
2014 : After a career in the political world, Dominique Ollivier was appointed head of the Office de consultation publique de Montréal. In the following seven years, she increased her trips abroad and meals in restaurants.
2021: In the middle of the electoral campaign, Mme Ollivier becomes a candidate within Valérie Plante’s team, who presents her as the future president of her executive committee.
November 2, 2023: Quebecor media begins publishing a series of reports on M’s spendingme Ollivier at the time when she headed the OCPM.
November 13, 2023: Mme Ollivier resigns.