The mayor of Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson, in the Laurentians, has just been suspended and fined for repeatedly exceeding his powers.
Gilles Boucher, elected in 2021, gave direct instructions to the employees of the small municipality, ignoring the administrative structure, according to a judgment of the Quebec Municipal Commission.
Mr. Boucher notably intervened on behalf of a contractor who wanted to unload construction site waste at the local ecocenter and asked a municipal inspector to issue a notice of non-compliance for a noisy device.
The mayor made tours with a road foreman “to show the work to be done” after making personal observations, then attended and commented on “certain interventions by blue-collar workers,” according to the Commission’s decision. Since coming to power, “Mr. Boucher has directly received several calls from citizens concerning public works” and forwarded them to a road foreman.
Mr. Boucher admitted the facts with which he was accused and agreed to be suspended for 30 days without pay, in addition to paying a total fine of $4,000.
According to the local Code of Ethics, “a member of the council [municipal] cannot interfere in the daily administration of the City or give directives to municipal employees, other than when making a decision in a public meeting of the municipal council.” By directly involving himself in the work of civil servants, the mayor “bypasses the process established for processing citizens’ requests. »
The CMQ’s decision highlights the collaboration of Gilles Bouchard in its investigation.
“He recognizes that he is too involved in the administration of the Municipality, having at heart the well-being of the Municipality and its population,” relays the decision of the CMQ. He “intends to make changes aimed at avoiding interference in the work of the administration.”
Gilles Boucher had also threatened a citizen with expropriation of a culvert if he refused to sell it to the municipality. At that time, no such orientation had been passed by the municipal council, according to the Commission’s decision.