BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report
The MRC Vaudreuil-Soulanges has suspended its director-general pending an investigation into what multiple sources have described as a series of issues.
Guy-Lin Beaudoin was suspended with pay from his duties last month at a special meeting called by the MRC council.
A majority of the mayors who sit on the 23-member MRC council also voted to contract the services of a lawyer to conduct an independent probe into issues of concern which were raised by the elected members of the council who sit on the agency’s human resources committee.
According to multiple sources who spoke to The 1019 Report on the promise of anonymity, some elected officials on the MRC council were surprised to recently learn that the director-general’s employment contract had been renewed in May 2023 without their knowledge.
The head of the MRC, prefect Patrick Bousez, has the authority to renew the director-general’s contract.
The lawyer mandated to conduct the inquiry had previously been commissioned by the MRC on other matters before the contracted was extended to include this new probe.
“It is more complex than we can believe,” one source told The 1019 Report without providing specifics. “As we have learned things, we had to act,” the source said, referring to the mandate extended to an independent lawyer to conduct a series of inquiries.
The region’s mayors have been meeting behind closed doors to discuss issues for several weeks, sources confirmed. These meetings have included Bousez.
Bousez declined a request for an interview, but issued a short statement to The 1019 Report:
“The MRC will not issue any comments regarding the investigation that will be launched and the suspension of the employee involved,” Bousez stated in an email delivered through the MRC’s communication staff.
The MRC’s acting assistant director-general, Alexandre Lambert, will act as interim director-general until the inquiries are completed.
Beaudoin has served as the MRC’s top administrator for about 15 years. In 2018, he was recognized for his years of service by the Association des directeurs généraux des MRC du Québec. The honour, which is posted on the MRC Vaudreuil-Soulanges’ website, outlines a career that has so far included stints as assistant director-general for the MRC Manicouagan, before becoming the director-general of the MRC Val-Saint-François. He also served as director-general of the town of Richmond for seven years.
During his tenure at the MRC Vaudreuil-Soulanges he has overseen the construction of the regional authority’s new headquarters on Harwood Blvd. which also includes the offices of the regional municipal court and the offices of the MRC’s business development agency, Développement Vaudreuil-Soulanges.