Louisette Langlois

Nelson Sergerie, LJI Journalist

CHANDLER – The Town of Chandler’s motion seeking more than $300,000 from former Mayor Louisette Langlois, who challenged the sanction imposed against her by the Municipal Commission in 2020, will not be heard in court until the spring 2026. The delay is due to difficulties in finding a judge ready to hear the case.

Beforehand, a pre-trial conference will have to be held to determine how many days need to be scheduled for the hearing. The application filed in 2022 was amended from its original amount of $230,411.

Since January, $5,248 in legal fees have been added, for a total of $410,034 to date.

The Percé Courthouse clerk issued the certificate of completeness on January 7.

In January 2021, the municipal council adopted a resolution leading to the filing of the claim by the town, emphasizing in particular that the allegations against Louisette Langlois resulted from gross or intentional misconduct, by giving precedence to her personal interest, by having committed actions intentionally and premeditatedly, all to achieve her ends.

This argument was repeated in the motion for an originating application for reimbursement of defence costs filed in January 2022.

The invoice claimed at that time was $230,411. Chandler’s attorneys noted in particular that “The decision rendered (…) on December 21, 2020 is damning of the defendant and establishes that the defendant’s acts or omissions constitute serious misconduct and/or intentional misconduct and/or separable from the performance of her duties.”

They added that the former elected official “has multiplied proceedings, some of which are unnecessary, unfounded, and truncated in light of the evidence presented before the CMQ (Commission municipale du Québec).”

In December 2019, Louisette Langlois was cited for 21 violations of the Chandler Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct for Elected Officials. Following hearings in July 2020, the commission concluded in December 2020 that the former elected official was guilty of 20 violations, including conflicts of interest. Before the sanction hearing, Ms. Langlois had attempted to obtain a stay of proceedings, contested the notice of sanction issued against her, and even requested that the investigation be reopened. These requests were rejected by administrative judge Sandra Bilodeau.

The former mayor made an appeal to the Superior Court, but it was dismissed in July 2021, and she suffered the same fate in October 2021 before the Court of Appeal.

Furthermore, the motion accused her of subsequently escalating the number of proceedings