Following the article by The Press revealing the content of a draft Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville by-law that would have limited the freedom of speech of elected officials, the Commission municipale du Québec (CMQ) decided to launch an investigation.
Posted at 6:00 a.m.
“The situation revealed by The Press is worrying,” said Isabelle Rivoal, spokesperson for the CMQ.
“Municipal democracy must be preserved at all times. The Commission has decided, based on what it knows, to open an investigation, and it is the Municipal Integrity Investigations and Prosecutions Department that will do so and will contact the City very, very quickly,” she added.
In an article published on June 9, with the title “The mayor wants the opposition to be loyal to him”, we revealed that Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville was preparing to modify the code of ethics and professional conduct of elected officials to “add loyalty as a rule of conduct”.
The project was to be adopted at the municipal council meeting on Tuesday, June 14. But the mayor of Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Ludovic Grisé Farand, withdrew this point from the agenda on Friday.
Four layouts
If adopted, this project provided for the addition of four provisions to the code of ethics and conduct of elected officials.
The councilor should have respected “the resolutions, the policies, the directives and the procedures made by the council, notwithstanding its dissent, by showing moderation on the occasion of any public comment on these decisions”. He should also have observed the decisions made by the council if he sits on the bodies or commissions of the Longueuil agglomeration.
The fourth provision provided for the obligation to “abstain from influencing or seeking to influence an elected official of another municipality so that he votes against a decision made by the council, in particular when he sits on the commissions of the Longueuil agglomeration”.
Mayor Grisé Farand had explained, in an interview, that these changes resulted from an electoral promise and that they were intended to prevent a councilor appointed by the City from “sabotage” projects by intervening with other municipal authorities.
Experts interviewed by The Presshowever, felt that the new provisions were a brake on freedom of expression.
“I’m never happy when my city, my community, makes the headlines for the wrong reasons,” reacted opposition councilor Vincent Fortier, learning that the CMQ was going to open an investigation. “I can’t be happy about that. But one thing is certain: the reaction of the Commission municipale du Québec shows that there really are serious issues at the democratic level. It comforts me even more in the fact that I think that these rules go too far and that it is unhealthy between elected officials and in terms of democracy. »
The Press tried unsuccessfully to contact Mayor Grisé Farand to obtain his comments.