The mayor of Sorel-Tracy, Serge Péloquin, abused his duties when he installed a microphone in the office of the city clerk to eavesdrop on his conversations, believes the Commission municipale du Québec (CMQ), which is asking the Superior Court to disqualify him from sitting as elected for one year.
In November 2020, Serge Péloquin had installed an electronic device in his own office to capture sound and image, hidden in a pile of papers. For two days, he recorded the meetings and telephone calls that took place there, indicates the motion that the CMQ has just filed in Superior Court.
The mayor then installed the device in the office of clerk René Chevalier without his knowledge. The equipment had been placed above the library, with the camera facing the ceiling. The device was linked to an application installed on the mayor’s cell phone and he could activate the recording whenever he wanted.
It was only fifteen months later, on April 7, that the city clerk discovered the device and informed the city manager. During a meeting, Serge Péloquin allegedly invoked the powers granted to the mayor by section 52 of the Cities and Towns Act to justify the surveillance performed on the clerk. “He felt that the criticisms he made of the clerk were not taken seriously,” says the request.
However, the CMQ alleges, the Cities and Towns Act did not allow the elected official to install an electronic device in the clerk’s office. It is rather the director general of the City, who is responsible for the management of human resources, to document the disciplinary files of the employees, it is specified.
“He had access to conversations of a private nature in which the clerk participated. By proceeding as he did, the defendant abused his functions and assumed those of the general manager,” indicated the CMQ. “The defendant’s actions constitute a serious attack on the honor and dignity of the office of elected municipal official which justifies his being declared disqualified from exercising the office of elected municipal official for a period of one year. »
The CMQ is therefore asking the Superior Court to rule on this case and the case will be heard on June 8.
The discovery of the microphone in the clerk’s office sent shock waves through Sorel-Tracy City Hall last month. The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) and the CMQ then opened an investigation. Shaken, civil servants had accused the mayor of having broken the bond of trust with the employees. And during the municipal council of May 2, the elected officials had adopted by a majority a motion of non-confidence in the place of Serge Péloquin. The mayor then claimed that the City’s Human Resources Department was aware of the clerk’s surveillance. On May 6, a search of the mayor’s residence was carried out by the Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit (UPAC).