Citing broken trust with citizens, the municipal council on Tuesday fired the president of the Office de Consultation Publique de Montréal (OCPM), Isabelle Beaulieu, for her excessive spending, which constituted a “serious mistake,” elected officials said.
Published yesterday at 6:43 p.m.
Because of this, the ousted president will not be able to receive the severance pay stipulated in her contract, which is equivalent to an annual salary or about $160,000.
The council also formally commissioned the city’s auditor to conduct a performance audit of the organization regarding its administrative and financial practices and framework.
It is the city’s general manager, Serge Lamontagne, who will take over for the next month while he finds someone to chair the organization. Meanwhile, OCPM funding is frozen.
However, the elected officials of Mayor Valérie Plante’s administration continued to defend the probity of the former President of the Executive Committee, Dominique Ollivier, who led the organization between 2014 and 2021.
“Before we damage the reputation, we have to get to the bottom of things,” emphasized local councilor Robert Beaudry, head of the OCPM. “I would like to thank Ms. Ollivier, who faced the music on the first day and explained herself to the cameras. She made mistakes, she admitted them and paid the price. But she is a person who has done a lot for Montreal as president of the OCPM and continues to work for Montreal as a Rosemont city councilor. »
For its part, the opposition is still demanding that Ms. Ollivier resign from the ruling party Projet Montréal faction as well as from the executive committee of the Montreal Metropolitan Community.
“It would be prudent for Ms. Ollivier to withdraw from paid positions or political involvement in the Projet Montréal caucus during the Auditor General’s investigation,” opposition finance spokesman Alan DeSousa asked.
Isabelle Beaulieu, who has chaired the organization since February 2022, increased the number of meetings at high-end restaurants and purchased $900 worth of headphones at the city’s expense.
Dominique Ollivier’s spending has also been criticized, particularly because of the numerous trips by OCPM leaders under his leadership, including a mission to Mozambique that cost Montreal taxpayers $23,000.
Ms Ollivier resigned from the presidency of the Executive Committee last week in the wake of revelations about that spending.