A segment of the show The day (is still young) broadcast on Radio-Canada radio was the starting point of the investigation by the Organisme d’autoréglementation du courtageimmobilier du Québec (OACIQ) into Mathieu Arseneault and a complaint from host Sébastien Diaz was presented as evidence during disciplinary hearings on Monday.
The star real estate broker of the show Numbers 1 at CASA attended his first day of disciplinary hearing Monday in Brossard accompanied by his lawyers. He appears under the charge “Honor and dignity of the profession”.
It is the spokesperson for the OACIQ, Me Caroline Champagne, vice-president of management, who was challenged by a segment of the show The day (is still young) broadcast on November 21 on Radio-Canada radio. Broker Mathieu Arseneault was presented as “the worst person of the day” by columnist Olivier Niquet. She spoke about it to the OACIQ assistant union member, Julie Gagnon, who started her investigation on November 23.
His results were presented as evidence throughout the day to the disciplinary committee. Members saw around ten videos of Mathieu Arseneault posted on his social networks, in which he gives money to children, a janitor and people who “struggle to feed themselves” and “live outside “.
According to the assistant trustee, these videos are intended to self-promote the broker, because he mentions the number of houses he has sold, the number to contact him and announces in one of them that 2022 has been “a of his big years” in real estate before adding that he was going to distribute $2,000 to people in need.
“It’s wrong to say he’s doing this to inspire people to do the same thing. I don’t believe it,” says Julie Gagnon, who notes “a gap between the targeted clientele and the image that the respondent conveys” with the Porsche, the coat and its luxurious brands to distribute money .
“I believe that Mr. Arseneault is doing this to attract attention through good causes,” she adds.
The assistant union member also presented a selection of negative comments on social networks sparked by the videos, a request for assistance, a telephone interview with an offended community organization worker, a parody by comedian Julien Lacroix and an excerpt of a mood conference by columnist Olivier Niquet in front of hundreds of real estate brokers at the Rendez-vous de l’OACIQ last October.
The aim being to demonstrate that “beyond the humor which is used to ridicule the Respondent’s publications, it is the dignity and honor of the entire profession which is affected as well as its image”, as indicated in the request for provisional suspension filed before the members of the committee.
Comment from Sébastien Diaz
Mathieu Arseneault published around ten videos in which he gives $100 to a minor to reward his academic results and another $100 when the young person cites the broker’s telephone number and says that he will use his services to buy his house later.
One of them made television host Sébastien Diaz react. As a comment under the video, he wrote “Ok. This is highly illegal…”
Sébastien Diaz did not limit himself to the broker’s social networks, he went to the OACIQ Instagram page to question the legality of this form of advertising.
“Coming from a television background, I know how regulated it all is. Here, I only see a broker using anyone to enhance his own business and I fail to see how this is positive for the broker profession,” Mr. Diaz wrote during a private exchange on Instagram with the assistant union member.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Sebastien Diaz
“I have no testimony to give other than how is using minors in shopping centers by filming them extolling its merits on social networks, ethical and legal,” concluded the host.
Julie Gagnon presented a video in which the broker used the same concept of giving money to reward academic achievement. However, this time, without giving any explanation, the amount increased from $60 to $100 and the young person clearly had a disability.
“In this video, I feel more uncomfortable because of the young man’s condition,” explained the assistant union member.
“I don’t know if it’s politically correct to say it,” she said, “but he has a disability, this young man, so one day, really, will he be able to be able to buy a property on your own? »
“Hey there! “, objected the defense lawyer, Mr.e Martin Courville.
“I don’t think it’s dignified to make these comments, particularly in a case like this where my client is being accused of publishing unworthy videos,” said Mathieu Arseneault’s lawyer.
Only a “belief”?
When the lawyer, Me Courville, questioned the assistant trustee, he insisted that she provide him with objective, concrete, real proof of her client’s intentions, which according to her are not to inspire others, but to engage in self-promotion. Julie Gagnon replied that she did not have any.
“Is it just on your belief?” », asked Me Courville. “Yes,” she replied.
Mathieu Arseneault will return before the disciplinary committee on Wednesday, where he will be questioned by the OACIQ lawyer. The prosecutor and the assistant trustee must demonstrate that the ethical misconduct is serious enough for Mathieu Arseneault’s brokerage license to be urgently suspended pending the guilt hearings which will take place in 2024.
Since obtaining his brokerage license in 2003, the broker has been the subject of 76 requests for assistance and the OACIQ has had to intervene on 38 occasions with the respondent, including 20 times specifically for its advertising and representations that do not comply with the law.