Union Montreal struggles to regain party status
They sought to undo their request to fold
Union Montreal is in court fighting to come back from the dead.
The party of former mayor Gérald Tremblay is embroiled in a legal battle with Quebec chief electoral officer Jacques Drouin over his decision to yank its status as a political party.
Drouin’s office withdrew its authorization for Union Montreal, which effectively killed the party, in November.
The party had asked the chief electoral officer to withdraw its authorization, but it later asked to cancel the request before Drouin issued his decision.
So Union Montreal has decided to contest Drouin’s execution order in Quebec Superior Court. The next court date, to hear arguments, is scheduled for Sept. 29.
Municipal parties in Quebec were supposed to file their financial statements for 2013 on Tuesday. However, the rule is suspended for Union Montreal pending the outcome of the case, Stéphanie Isabelle, a spokesperson for the chief electoral officer, said on Friday.
Union Montreal imploded following Tremblay’s resignation as mayor in fall 2012 after a former party organizer testified at the Charbonneau Commission that Union Montreal had kept a parallel accounting system for illicit and legal funds in a 2004 by-election.
Witnesses who testified later described a system of collusion in which the party’s former director of financing had exacted kickbacks on municipal contracts that were rigged to favour pre-determined winners.
Tremblay’s departure from politics led to an exodus of councillors from Union Montreal, and ultimately the party’s request to the chief electoral officer in May to allow it to dissolve.
However, the party later asked to cancel its request to fold, saying that Union Montreal wanted to remain a legal entity so it could maintain its participant status at the Charbonneau Commission. The status would allow the party’s lawyers to cross-examine witnesses and rebut any blame the commission may lay on the party or its officials in its final report, due in 2015.
Nevertheless, Drouin decided to withdraw the party’s authorization on Nov. 12, citing in a news statement announcing his decision that the party had failed to comply with the municipal elections law to fill the vacant posts of party leader and second-in-command within a certain time frame.
However, Union Montreal’s position is that the chief electoral officer exceeded his powers in withdrawing the party’s authorization, Eric Oliver, a lawyer representing the party, said. Moreover, the chief electoral officer acknowledged in a written decision to withdraw authorization that the party had complied with the law, he said.
Under the elections law, the chief electoral officer acquires all assets of a municipal party when it dissolves and pays the party’s creditors. Any remaining money is turned over to the municipality.
“Everyone takes for granted that all of the money Union Montreal has is unclean,” Oliver said. “They want to recover the money that Union Montreal has in its coffers without having to establish that the money we have at the moment was illegally obtained.”
Union Montreal’s initial request to be dissolved included a condition that it be allowed to set aside some money in trust to cover future legal fees for representation at the Charbonneau Commission.
However, Drouin’s statement said he refused the condition because there’s no provision for it in the municipal elections law.