The mayor's right hand man has been caught driving over 170 kilometres an hour.
The head of the city's executive committee and Southwest Borough Mayor Benoit Dorais was driving on Highway 35 south of Montreal just before midnight back in April, when he was pulled over by police. The story was first reported in Le Journal de Montreal.
His licence was suspended for seven days. He lost 14 demerit points and was fined $1,378, all appropriate fines based in the Highway Safety Code.
Dorais was driving on Highway 35, leaving la Vallee du Richelieu driving a black Buick Encore, which is an SUV.
Dorais admitted to getting the ticket and said he intends to face it, adding in an email that "obviously, this behaviour was a mistake."
The infraction is getting a lot of reaction online, especially because Projet Montreal has implemented a number of measures citywide with the goal of decreasing cars on the road and making the roads safer, including the pilot project closing Camillien-Houde over Mount Royal.
Dorais has been involved in a number of citywide measures, including reducing speed limits on city streets and increasing ticket fines.
City councillor Marvin Rotrand is calling the borough mayor's actions hypocritical and is calling for Dorais to resign.
"He's the spokesperson for a party that almost says that car ownership is anti-social, whose main policies at city hall deal with slowing down traffic," he said, adding that driving in a "big SUV" at 170 kilometres an hour sends a "mixed-message about the credibility of the city's administration."
A spokesperson for the city said Mayor Valerie Plante will not be commenting on the issue.
