Citing a breach of trust between the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM) and the population, Valérie Plante intends to recommend to the municipal council which meets on Monday to dismiss President Isabelle Beaulieu and freeze the funds intended for the organization. The mayor, however, believes that Dominique Ollivier, who led the Office for seven years, can retain her position as councilor in Vieux-Rosemont.
“I found it extremely shocking,” said Mayor Plante during a press briefing Friday afternoon following the testimony of Isabelle Beaulieu and Dominique Ollivier before the Commission on Finance and Administration. “Obviously, what emerges is that we are facing systemic mismanagement of the OCPM which has spread over several years.”
Earlier in the day, before this commission, Isabelle Beaulieu affirmed that when she arrived at the head of the organization in February 2022, she noticed that time theft had taken place. She also reported laxity in the management of the organization and an absence of a code of ethics. She attributed these shortcomings to her predecessor at the head of the organization, Dominique Ollivier. The latter also responded in the afternoon by rejecting several of the allegations put forward by M.me Beaulieu.
Valérie Plante believes that action must be taken immediately to restore public confidence in the organization. She therefore announced that she would recommend on Monday to the members of the municipal council the dismissal of Isabelle Beaulieu as well as the freezing of OCPM funds — with the exception of employee salaries — “while a mechanism is put in place. room for close monitoring of expenses.
The mayor specified that a person would quickly be appointed to the management of the OCPM on an interim basis. The Auditor General was also given the mandate to scrutinize the organization’s expenditures. “We are going to do a thorough cleaning.” supported Valérie Plante.
The mayor believes that Dominique Ollivier, who resigned from her position as president of the executive committee on Monday, still has her place as an elected official. “I consider that in the current situation, Mr.me Olivier has the skills to continue being the city councilor in the Rosemont district. What concerns us at the moment is the question of management. »
Targeted by criticism concerning excessive or questionable expenses since taking office in February 2022, Isabelle Beaulieu claimed to have revised certain practices that were current at the OCPM.
Before the elected representatives of the commission, Friday morning, she indicated that when she took office, she relied on the practices of her predecessors with regard to restaurants and travel. However, she claimed to have reduced the frequency and extent of travel and to have undertaken a review of working methods.
Mme Beaulieu raised several ongoing issues, including time theft. “Few employees were in the office or at work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but many entered these hours into the pay system,” she said.
She noted in particular that during the Christmas and New Year holidays, the previous administration closed offices, but employees had the right to fill out their timesheets as if they were at work. “I stopped this practice. »
Additionally, she added, no work plan existed for teleworking. And no human resources policy or code of ethics had been put in place.
Regarding the allegations about the “toxic” work climate revealed last January, she recalled having used an independent firm to conduct an investigation. This raised several issues, including a “certain laxity” in the management of the previous president. All the recommendations were followed, affirmed Isabelle Beaulieu, with, among other things, the adoption of a code of ethics.
Isabelle Beaulieu, however, admitted that the $900 iPad and Apple headphones she bought when she took office were costly expenses. “The price paid for this material was too high, I agree,” she said. As for the furniture replaced in 2022, she argued that these were necessary expenses given their dilapidation.
“I made mistakes, I recognize it, I take responsibility for them,” she declared to the elected members of the commission.
“Never under my presidency,” says Ollivier
The response did not take long. In the afternoon, Dominique Ollivier, who resigned Monday from her position as president of the City’s executive committee due to the turmoil and had asked to testify before the commission, presented her version of the facts.
“I’ve read all sorts of things in the papers, but I want to make this clear. 77 trips to Alexandre in one year, $900 headphones, $500 bills, that never happened under my presidency and it was the fault of the administration that succeeded me », affirmed Mme Ollivier Friday afternoon, a few hours after Isabelle Beaulieu appeared before the commission. “I have always had too much respect for public funds to authorize this kind of expenditure. »
According to her, the trips made by representatives of the OCPM under her mandate, which took place from 2014 to 2021, followed the recommendations of the administrations at city hall, namely those of Gérald Tremblay and Denis Coderre, in order to raise awareness of the organization and establish links abroad.
However, she indicated that she was never aware of any time theft during her mandate, rejecting at the same time the assertions of Isabelle Beaulieu. “I have not experienced a period of employee time theft. I don’t know what Madame Beaulieu is referring to,” she said.
Further details will follow.