Comedian René Forget, who has filed two legal challenges against the Union des artistes (UDA) in recent years, filed a third earlier this week in the hope of forcing the union to accept his candidacy for president. However, he suffered a setback in Superior Court on Wednesday.
René Forget is not in his first trouble with the UDA, which has some 13,000 members in Quebec. In 2021, the comedian filed a nearly $1.5 million lawsuit against the union, alleging it caused his show production company, Klap, to lose numerous contracts in 2016.
The UDA considered that a show managed by this agency and called The rising stars offered “too easy” a way in to become a member of this union. The union then ceased issuing employment contracts to the production agency, which placed René Forget and his partner Patrick Dorval in a difficult financial situation.
This case is still before the Superior Court, which agreed to hear Mr. Forget’s request. A case in the same file also opposes Mr. Forget and the UDA before an arbitration tribunal. In both cases, the actor is claiming financial compensation which totals around 2.8 million, he indicated to the Duty.
Application refused
Despite this tense context, René Forget informed the UDA last summer of his interest in taking part in the race for the presidency of the union. This election, which will take place from March 20 to 23, aims to replace Sophie Prégent at the head of the UDA, a position she has held since 2013. The person who replaces her will have a four-year term.
The comedian, however, saw his candidacy rejected, which prompted him to turn again to the courts. According to Mr. Forget, his legal actions against the UDA do not represent a valid reason for rejecting his candidacy for the presidency. “It’s a conflict of interest. But if I am president of the UDA, the first thing I will do is to settle this file, “he assured in an interview with the Duty Monday.
“If the presidency changes, the climate will change” within the UDA, continued Mr. Forget, who described the union’s management style as a “war mentality”.
The actor thus turned to the Superior Court on Monday to try to force the UDA to accept his candidacy as administrator and president of the union, to “give him the same treatment as other presidential candidates and [à] publish, without delay, his photo, texts and video on the UDA electoral platform”. The request for an injunction also mentioned “the urgency” for a judge to look into this case, the campaign led by the various candidates for the presidency of the UDA only stretching from March 13 to 20.
In addition to suing the UDA, René Forget is also targeting Anne-Héloise Bédard, who is associated with the firm of independent auditors MNP, in his latest request. It is this firm that has been mandated by the UDA’s board of directors “to supervise the 2023 electoral process” and ensure that it respects its general regulations, the union explained in an email to Duty. “It is therefore up to the election commission to decide whether to approve or refuse a candidacy”, and not to the union, which emerges from the selection process, said the UDA.
René Forget also saw his request be rejected on Wednesday by a judge of the Superior Court, who rendered his decision at the start of the afternoon. The magistrate determined that the legal remedies opposing the actor to the UDA were too important for him to take part in the race for the presidency without placing himself in a conflict of interest.
“I will try my luck in the next presidential race,” Mr. Forget said on Wednesday as he left the Montreal courthouse.