'You challenge the status quo at your peril,' borough Mayor Sue Montgomery questions ethics violations ruling
Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (CDN-NDG) borough Mayor Sue Montgomery did not mince words after a Quebec Municipal Commission judge found her guilty of 11 ethics violations.
"In this system, you challenge the status quo at your peril," the CDN-NDG borough mayor told CTV News. "Those in power will take any measure to shut you down."
At least one municipal rival has called for her resignation after QMC judge Alain Roy's ruling.
Roy wrote that Montgomery did not act in a way that "favoured the maintenance of a harmonious, healthy work climate, free from all forms of harassment," and that she disrespected and insulted civil servants on several occasions and tried to withhold pay from a civil servant who alleged harassment.
He also noted she joked sarcastically at an informal meeting that her borough manager must have "compromising photos" of Montreal comptroller general Alain Bond.
Lionel Perez, who is running against Montgomery in the upcoming municipal election, insists she must resign.
"With the ruling, she no longer has the moral authority to govern," Perez wrote on Twitter. "The people of CDN-NDG deserve better."
Perez also referenced Montgomery's ongoing rift with governing party Projet Montréal and its leader, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante.
The violations in the ruling stem from Bond's original investigation into the borough's workplace culture in 2019, ending with demands from Montreal City Hall that Montgomery dismiss her chief of staff Annalisa Harris.
Montgomery refused to do so, and Plante kicked her out of Projet Montréal. Montgomery then formed her own political party, Courage.
Plante responded to Roy's ruling by asking that Montgomery recognize her mistakes, adding the way she has been acting is not helpful.
"It shows very clearly that as mayor, but mostly as leader of my party, I was right to be worried, concerned and upset with some of Madame Montgomery's behaviour," said Plante. "I did the right thing."
A Quebec Superior Court judge ruled that the city mishandled the investigation into Harris and that it had no right to ask Montgomery to remove her.
"I won my Superior Court Case against the city, the court found that what I did was within my rights and responsibilities as mayor," said Montgomery. "The CMQ, in its allegations, doesn’t even acknowledge this. Many of the allegations from the CMQ were already rejected by the Superior Court. This is what I have faced and what I will continue to fight."
Roy also found Montgomery guilty of failing to disclose conflicts of interest and other accusations.
He dismissed 17 other allegations of ethics violations. Montgomery is expected to attend another hearing on July 6 when Roy will announce possible sanctions.
Montgomery says she is standing up for good governance and has been "stymied at every turn."
"The citizens of Côte-des-Neiges-NDG have been deprived of a strong council for years - one that would stand up to the entrenched system," she said. "For years, Côte-des-Neiges-NDG has not gotten its fair share from the city."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.