Nelson Sergerie
PERCÉ – The Town of Percé has received a warning from the Municipal Commission of Québec reminding elected officials and municipal employees of their duty to cooperate with the investigation underway by the Direction des enquêtes et des poursuites en intégrité municipale (DEPIM/Municipal Integrity Investigations and Prosecutions Branch).
In this new chapter relating to the allegations surrounding the director of Urban Planning, Ghislain Pitre, the commission sent a letter to the director general of the municipality, Jean-François Coderre, on February 19 and in an exceptional gesture on their part, transmitted the document to SPEC. It is customary for the commission not to confirm its investigations.
In this letter, the investigation department indicates that it is carrying out an investigation “into possible breaches of the rules of the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct applicable to elected officials of the Town of Percé as well as, possible reprehensible acts committed or about to be committed.”
The investigations department mentions having been informed of the internal investigation carried out among Town of Percé employees.
“Despite several attempts, it was impossible for us to obtain details on this mandate or its progress. Recently, information brought to our attention makes us fear that this internal investigation, in fact, could hinder the course of the DEPIM investigation,” is written in the letter addressed to the town.
“We hereby ask you to disseminate this within the Town of Percé to notify the municipal elected officials of the Town of Percé as well as, its staff of the current investigation. To facilitate the holding of our investigation, and to avoid any hindrance to it, we ask you to indicate to the municipal elected officials of the Town of Percé as well as, to its staff that the only administrative investigation in which they are authorized to participate is that carried out by the DEPIM, subject to any other approach carried out by the police authorities,” warns the Municipal Commission.
The investigation department specifies in the letter that several people will be met as part of the investigation, including employees and elected officials, and asks them “to maintain the strictest confidentiality surrounding it and, as such, not to discuss, with anyone, the information exchanged during meetings with DEPIM representatives.”
The letter also mentions that any person is required to collaborate, to meet the commission investigator and to provide the requested information, subject to the professional secrecy of the lawyer or notary, ensuring that the people met with are protected against reprisals.
Moreover, the Commission takes care to explain that fines of up to $20,000 could be issued for any form of retaliation or obstruction of the investigation in various ways.
This is a new investigation in addition to those already underway.
The Town of Percé launched its own administrative investigation after suspending Mr. Pitre with pay on October 30 on allegations of suspected fraud, theft of large sums of money from the municipality and falsification of documents.
The investigation was entrusted to an “independent and impartial” firm, which is now causing problems for the Municipal Commission because that organization wants its investigation to be prioritized.
The Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit visited the Town Hall on November 14 to meet with Mr. Coderre and various municipal employees in connection with the case.
At the November municipal council meeting, the town’s lawyer, Simon Cossette Lachance, indicated that the allegations raised were serious, which led to an administrative investigation to verify the allegations, specifying that the suspension with pay follows a court ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada to respect the presumption of innocence.
Mr. Pitre is the spouse of Cathy Poirier, the Mayor of Percé.