Rift on city council deepens
Mayor says Demers ‘stepped over a line’ by sharing information with prosecution
Beaconsfield council is accusing District 4 councillor Pierre Demers of breaching the city’s code of ethics and is asking the Commission municipale du Québec to investigate.
“He stepped over a line,” Mayor Georges Bourelle said. “We have an obligation and responsibility as elected officials to take action.”
A resolution to censure was approved by the mayor and all councillors with the exception of Demers.
In a prepared statement, Demers denied any wrongdoing and called the move politically motivated.
“I have won two elections on a platform of truth and honesty,” Demers wrote.
“I have worked hard for the past six years practising those values, and I strongly believe those I have served will see this for what it is.”
The incident which triggered the call for censure took place at the Montreal courthouse on March 16.
Yale Properties, the owner of part of Angell Woods in Beaconsfield, is suing the city for what it sees as an abusive application of an interim bylaw which prevented the company from developing its land.
The case was heard by Quebec Superior Court Justice Johanne Mainville.
Demers was at the courthouse on March 16 to listen to testimony and was approached by prosecuting attorney Alfred Belisle during lunch break.
This is where stories diverge. Council’s resolution reads that Demers volunteered to Belisle to testify and that the two had lunch together before testimony resumed that day.
Demers said he did confer with Belisle about a special planning program which had been introduced, but ultimately dropped, by the previous Beaconsfield administration.
Demers added he did not volunteer to testify, but that he told the lawyer he could make clarifications about the SPP. Demers said he shared lunch with former councillors Karen Essen and Rhonda Massad, who both gave testimony that day, not with Belisle.
“Mayor Bourelle has expressed publicly that he believes Demers is going to run against him (in the upcoming municipal elections),” Massad said.
“This is an effort to garner votes. I don’t think the residents will be fooled.”
Bourelle said that Demers’s willingness to share information with the prosecution was not an action which put the city first.
“He was not obliged to offer information,” Bourelle said.
“If the lawyer asked him, he could have said no — that he was serving as councillor for the city. He had choices.”
Some of what Demers shared with Belisle was brought up by the lawyer during testimony later that day.
“What council did (passing the resolution to censure) is not personal,” Bourelle said.
“We’re simply saying that he stepped over a line.”
Council has accused Demers of contravening sections in the city’s code of ethics including those dealing with integrity, prudence in pursuing the public interest, conflict of interest and loyalty towards the municipality.
“I always perform my councillor duties with the best interests of the residents and our city in mind,” Demers wrote.
“I am confident the Commission municipal du Québec will find these allegations without merit.”
Demers told the Montreal Gazette he plans to run for councillor in the municipal election, Nov. 5.
I always perform my councillor duties with the best interests of the residents and our city in mind.