Crossed by an internal crisis after a report mentioning “serious breaches”, the City of Saint-Placide, in the Laurentians, was placed under supervision by the Minister of Municipal Affairs.
It is now the Commission municipale du Québec (CMQ) that will have control, for human resources decisions, of the small municipality of approximately 1,800 inhabitants. The ministerial decree to this effect was adopted last Friday.
“The Commission will very quickly appoint a member to carry out this mandate”, indicated in an email to the Log Isabelle Rivoal, spokesperson for the CMQ.
Remember that since the end of April, Saint-Placide has been in turmoil after the Municipal Integrity Investigations and Prosecutions Department (DEPIM) of the Commission municipale du Québec (CMQ) made public an explosive report stating “contraventions of Quebec laws as well as serious breaches of ethical and deontological standards”.
The day after the report was released, the mayor of Saint-Placide, Daniel Laviolette, replied by announcing that he would oppose a guardianshipdenouncing a “biased” investigation.
Photo taken from the City of Saint-Placide website
Daniel Laviolette, Mayor of Saint-Placide.
He finally changed his mind on Monday. In a press release, Mayor Laviolette indicated that he would “cooperate fully” with the CMQ “within the framework of the limited control in the labor relations files currently in progress”.
“We acted completely in good faith, without favoritism, in the best interest of our people, and this in order to be responsible with regard to public funds,” he argued.
$500,000 to an employee dismissed, then reinstated
What ignited the powder is the payment of $ 500,000 to an employee who had been dismissed in 2019 for complaints of psychological harassment. The official in question was finally reinstated by Mayor Laviolette last fall.
According to DEPIM, this is an “abusive use of public funds and a serious case of mismanagement”.
“Hundreds of thousands of dollars of public funds have been spent without a solid foundation,” DEPIM lamented.
“A sound management of public funds implies, in our opinion, that the council be supervised in the management of human resources”, it was added, recommending a guardianship of human resources.
However, according to the mayor’s office, it was necessary to do so, because the official “had been unjustly dismissed by the previous municipal administration”.
“We will finally have interlocutors who will want to know the complete story in this file,” added Mayor Laviolette on Monday in a press release, stressing that the CMQ will be able to “hear the explanations of certain members of the municipal council and officials as to the facts in dispute”.
Concerned citizens
Remember that concerned citizens of the city have implored Minister Andrée Laforest to impose a guardianship so that order can be restored to Saint-Placide, with the help of a petition. The document was signed by more than 400 people.
City councilors have also indicated that they are in favor of such a measure.
“It seems to me that to receive competent and free help from the municipal commission at this time is the most logical thing to do from a perspective of good management of public funds and human resources”, had in particular supported Marie-Ève D’Amour, in the Facebook group Solidarité Saint-Placide, where many residents express their dissatisfaction.
“It is time for citizens to regain their peace of mind and confidence in the institution that is the Municipality,” wrote Ghislaine Tessier, president of the human resources committee since February 2022.