Published May 8, 2024

By Trevor Greenway

editor@lowdownonline.com

The municipality of La Pêche is taking legal action against a resident who made comments online that councillors and the mayor consider “defamatory.”

La Pêche is fighting back against resident Michel Beaulne after he critiqued their budget presentation in January of this year, and posted a short rant on Facebook criticizing municipal spending. It’s these remarks that Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux and his council consider “defamatory.”

“Disrespectful behaviour towards municipal elected officials has serious repercussions on local democratic life and the proper functioning of a municipality,” wrote the municipality in an April resolution. “During the presentation of its 2024 budget to taxpayers at the start of the year, defamatory information and insulting remarks were spread against members of the municipal council. These baseless and offensive statements have damaged the reputation of municipal elected officials.”

The resolution continues: “The municipality will take legal measures against Mr. Michel Beaulne, the author of these unacceptable comments on social networks. The municipal council therefore authorizes the administration to take all necessary legal steps against Mr. Michel Beaulne to put an end to any defamation against municipal elected officials and obtain compensation for the damage suffered.”

Toxicity in politics has increasingly become a concern among politicians. Several leaders recently quit their high-profile posts: Gatineau Mayor France Bélisle quit in February over what she called “hostile” political climate and a mayor in Russell, Ont., quit over similar concerns this April. It’s this “hostile” environment that municipalities like Low, La Pêche and Val-des-Monts are trying to curb with local bylaws that govern council meetings and how residents behave when dealing with public servants. 

In Val-des-Monts, councillors proposed a new bylaw banning “debate-provoking” questions from council meetings after several recent meetings went overtime and led to back-and-forth spats between councillors and the public. 

Low passed a similar bylaw last year that gave Mayor Carole Robert and any future mayors the power to remove anyone from a public meeting for “shouting, heckling, making noise” or “initiating debate with the public.”

La Pêche also has a decorum document of its own, but it’s nowhere near as strict as Low or Val-des-Monts. In La Peche’s council meeting decorum bylaw, residents have three minutes to ask any question they like, and councillors will only cut them off if they abuse the time limit, go off-topic or attack anyone in public.  

“The chairman of the meeting may refuse any question from a speaker or interrupt the speaker and withdraw his or her right to speak if it contravenes the rules of procedure; if the question is of a frivolous or vexatious nature; if the question exceeds the time limit; or if it is a personal attack on a member of council or municipal staff.”

The posts in question have since been removed from Beaulne’s Facebook page. La Pêche didn’t confirm how much money in terms of “compensation” it is seeking from Beaulne. 

Michel Beaulne did not respond to the Low Down’s queries by press time. 

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