Dominique Ollivier is suing Quebecor media for 1.6 million in the wake of the scandal that swept her away last fall and assures in an interview that she intends to finish her mandate as municipal councilor.
In her pursuit, Valérie Plante’s ex-lieutenant accuses The Montreal Journal and TVA for having led a “major smear campaign” which “permanently compromised his political career”.
“The presentation that was made [de ses dépenses par les médias] does a certain harm to my future years and has created stress that was truly undue,” Dominique Ollivier said on Friday in an interview with The Press. “How can you have a political career if voters no longer trust you based on information that is not accurate or not fully contextualized? »
For me, it’s quite clear that there was an intention which was to stop the work I was doing.
Dominique Ollivier, municipal councilor and former president of the executive committee of the City of Montreal
Dominique Ollivier is seeking approximately $600,000 in potential loss of wages, $500,000 in moral damages and $500,000 in exemplary damages.
Called to react, Quebecor did not respond to The Press.
“Create a scandal”
Last fall, Dominique Ollivier found herself at the center of a series of reports on the travel and meal expenses of the leaders of the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM). She chaired the organization from 2014 to 2021. Quebecor media reported in particular that Mme Ollivier had incurred nearly $18,000 in public funds on restaurant and travel expenses over four years. A $347 oyster dinner, eaten in 2016 in a Parisian restaurant, particularly left its mark.
The pursuit of Mme Ollivier does not identify any direct factual errors in Quebecor’s reporting. Rather, she accuses the group’s media of having truncated the facts, of having presented them in a dishonest or incriminating manner with the “very specific aim” of “creating a scandal”. Above all, to have omitted (in his opinion) the fact that these expenses were authorized and approved.
She also defends her famous oyster dinner, ensuring that the expense was “perfectly legitimate”. In mid-November, Dominique Ollivier recognized that “it is not because expenses are legal and permitted that they are acceptable”.
“I have a mandate that is legitimate”
Three months after the storm, Dominique Ollivier’s voice is feverish, but assured. In 20 minutes of interview, emotion will never break it. Two weeks ago, she attended the city council meeting, in the second row rather than at her old desk just to the right of the mayor.
I intend to continue my term and complete my term. Because the base is the people who elected you, your voters.
Dominique Ollivier, municipal councilor and former president of the executive committee of the City of Montreal
“I have a mandate that is legitimate, for which I have not been blamed,” said the municipal councilor of the Vieux-Rosemont district.
In mid-November, Valérie Plante affirmed that Mme Olliver would never return to the presidency of the executive committee of the City of Montreal, but did not rule out reinstating it as a member.
On Thursday, however, she was not among the elected officials who joined the proceedings as part of the mini-reshuffle announced by the mayor. “Mme Ollivier is still a member of Projet Montréal and our caucus,” said M.me Plant, asked about this. “I thank her for the work she did. […] She will continue to be part of our team, but differently. »
Appointments to the executive committee, “that belongs to him,” reacted the main person concerned. But “I don’t intend to keep a low profile,” she continued. “I have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. […] I am doing the work that people elected me to do and that I must do. »