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No trusteeship for Grenville-sur-la-Rouge
Québec’s intervention seen as re m edy to conflict
fuse to pa y a $3,788.43 bill fro m the Laval legal fir m of Dunton Rainville. Earlier this y ear, the fir m had provided a legal opinion before m e m bers had objected to the ex- penditure. Council has refused to pa y the invoice, telling the m a y or to foot the bill. During the latest spat, Sa y well related that Councillor Daniel Gauthier had discussed the need for a legal opinion with Pascal Surprenant, ad m inistrator at the ti m e. Monette asserted that Gauthier had no authorit y to ask for a legal opinion. While he dis m issed the resolution as be- ing “ridiculous,” Sa y well did not vote. “At least the law y er will be paid,” he re m arked. The opinion concerns a grievance that Sa y well has filed against Baril, alleging a conflict of interest. The m a y or affir m s the councillor has a conflict because he is a shareholder in Les Sources Véo, a water bottling fir m that has a road m aintenance agree m ent with the m unicipalit y on the Rouge River Road. The legal fir m has concluded a conflict allegation would be difficult to prove be- cause, although Baril works for the co m pa- n y , he does not own shares in Les Sources Véo. Sa y well has rejected that opinion; Baril counters that Sa y well is using taxpa y - ers’ dollars to finance a vendetta against hi m . The four m e m bers alread y adopted a non-confidence vote against the m a y or. Now Monette has served notice that she wants Sa y well’s expenses to be m ore closel y scrutinized. Sa y well has said such
RICHARD MAHONEY richard.mahoney@eap.on.ca
a control would contravene the m unicipal code. Citing the need for transparenc y , Monette contends council has the right to exa m ine all disburse m ents. During the stor my exchange, Fore m an urged the m e m bers to resolve their differ- ences behind closed doors, observing that taxpa y ers were tired of all the bickering.
Sa y well bla m es the group of four for a lack of planning, asserting co m plaints against hi m are frivolous. Monette and Baril sa y that Sa y well is responsible for the rift, m aintaining that he has levelled false accusations against his colleagues. “As a leader, y ou are pitiful,” Monette de- clared.
CALUMET | The Québec govern m ent has no intention to place Grenville-sur-la- Rouge under trusteeship. However, the province could intervene with a plan in a bid to end the “crisis” that has plagued the m unicipality for the past year. The m unicipal affairs m inistr y has not acted on the rare request that was m ade b y Ma y or John Sa y well in Ma y . Officials have instead suggested that an intervention plan could put in place to re- solve the conflict a m ong the divided coun- cil. “There is a lack of interest to help s m all m unicipalities,” said Sa y well during a recent council m eeting. Under a trusteeship, the Québec m unici- pal co mm ission would assu m e control of m unicipal decisions. “I believe that this is the onl y re m aining solution to allow our m unicipalit y to re- cover and m ove on fro m the current crises,” Sa y well wrote in a Ma y 30 letter to taxpa y - ers. The council is split into two factions, with Deput y m a y or Diane Monette, and Council- lors Noël Baril, Alain Carrière and Pierre Les- sard in one ca m p, and the m a y or and Coun- cillors Teresa For m an and Daniel Gauthier in the other. Discord was evident again at the last m eeting when m e m bers continued to re-
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