The mayor of Sorel-Tracy, Serge Péloquin, will no longer be able to perform his duties for a year, because he spied on the city clerk using a microphone hidden in his office.
Posted at 3:33 p.m.
The Superior Court thus agreed, on Wednesday, with the Commission municipale du Québec (CMQ), which had requested, on May 24, that Mr. Péloquin be declared, for one year, “unqualified to exercise the function of member of the council. of any municipality.
Serge Péloquin filed with the court an “act of total acquiescence to the request”, in which he explained that he sincerely believed that the Cities and Towns Act “authorized him to take the necessary measures to investigate a situation which he considered to be a lack of loyalty and discretion as well as a breach of confidentiality obligations”.
He then admits that the law does not give him these powers and “that he acted recklessly, although in good faith, to the best of his knowledge and for the sole purpose of protecting the interests of the municipality”.
Mr. Péloquin also recognizes “that the acts of which he is accused seriously undermine the honor and dignity of his duties as mayor of the City of Sorel-Tracy”, and “accepts the consequences of his actions”.
In November 2020, the mayor hid a recording device on a bookcase in the office of clerk René Chevalier.
The electronic device is connected to an application installed on the mayor’s cell phone, which can activate the recording whenever he wishes.
The clerk does not discover the recorder until April 7, 2022.
Questioned by the general manager, Serge Péloquin admits having placed the microphone in René Chavalier’s office, because he suspected the clerk of certain shortcomings.
In its request filed in May, the CMQ deplored that the mayor had had access to conversations of a private nature, and that he had thus abused his functions.
The CMQ and the Sûreté du Québec had opened investigations following the discovery of the hidden microphone. On May 6, the Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit raided the mayor’s house.
During the municipal council of May 2, the elected officials of Sorel-Tracy voted for a motion of blame against Serge Péloquin. They felt that the mayor, who suspended the clerk without pay, acted in such a way as to put his opinions and personal interests before those of the City and the citizens.