Tremblay resigns as committee chair after rebuke from Mayor

Sherbrooke city councillor Pierre Tremblay resigned his position as Chair of the City’s Sports and Outdoors Committee following a rebuke from Sherbrooke Mayor Steve Lussier for publicly making a proposal not previously approved by the administration. Citing censorship, Tremblay, who had also been president of Excellence sportif Sherbrooke and President of the 2013 Canada Games Legacy Fund, announced his resignation in a press release Monday morning.

“Last Tuesday, I made public a proposal to solve the lack of spaces available for our sports organizations, particularly the gymnastics group, which brings together more than 1,400 athletes making it the third largest sports organization in Sherbrooke after soccer and hockey,” Tremblay stated in his text. “As president of the Sport and Outdoors Committee, it seemed urgent to me to find a solution following the refusal of the Quebec government to contribute half of the required investments, or $3 million, for the redevelopment of the CERAS building.for me, it was and it is still unthinkable that the City of Sherbrooke should assume the $6 million needed to complete this project by itself.”

The city councillor called his proposed solution, which involved making use of Sherbrooke’s underused convention centre, “practical and inexpensive,” and said that He was initially pleased to hear Mayor Steve Lussier state in a radio interview that he would support the feasibility study. In a meeting last Friday afternoon, however, Tremblay said the Mayor’s tone was much less positive.

“To my surprise, Mayor Lussier, accompanied by City Manager Daniel Picard, expressed outrage that such a public statement had not been previously submitted to the necessary departments to be evaluated and then accepted by the City management before being made public,” Tremblay continued. “I'm still in shock! I cannot believe that an elected representative, designated by citizens to represent them on the city council, is being rebuffed and subjected to muzzling and intimidation as happened in the mayor's office last Friday. I loudly and forcefully denounce this attempt to put a stranglehold on members of the council.”

The councillor’s statement also criticizes the Mayor for what Tremblay says was a lack of leadership on the issue. He said that Lussier had encouraged him to make the public statement in a meeting on July 10 in order to gauge reaction, and argued that the about-face by the mayor was unjust.

“This was a simple request to carry out a feasibility study to solve an urgent situation for sports organizations and the proposal could have represented savings of several million dollars for Sherbrooke taxpayers,” he added. “Since my arrival on city council and my appointment as Chair of the sport and outdoor committee, I have always put my time and energy to defend and support the sporting community to make Sherbrooke an active, dynamic and prosperous city. How is it possible to exercise leadership as an elected member, or as chair of a committee, if you have to ask permission from the municipal administration to submit ideas or to express yourself publicly?”

Tremblay concluded his letter of resignation by stating that while he understands that there are rules that govern the decision making process in the City, he does not feel it is right for an elected official to be subject to any form of censorship.

“I will continue to do my most conscientious work as a municipal councillor in the best interests of the citizens of the Deauville district,” Tremblay said, “and I intend to continue expressing my opinion and my positions in complete freedom.”

Mayor Steve Lussier was expected to respond to Tremblay’s comments at Monday night’s City Council meeting, which took place following press time.