Gatineau councillors’ discretionary budgets suspended due to improper use of public funds 

Sophie Demers 

City councillors’ discretionary budgets have been suspended after they received a letter from the Quebec Municipal Commission (CMQ) alerting the city that the use of a discretionary budget was against the law and an “improper use of public funds.” 

The discretionary budget was given to each elected councillor aside from the mayor. They could use that budget to support organizations and projects that benefited their areas. Often, this was used to help fund residents' associations, non-profit organizations, and projects such as adding structures or sports infrastructure to parks.

The budgets have been in place for many years in Gatineau. This year, each councillor received a sum of $18,726 for their discretionary budget. 

CMQ’s Municipal Integrity Investigation and Prosecution Division conducted an investigation of these budgets in the city of Gatineau and has published a report with their findings.  According to the report, a total of $2.2 million has been accumulated among the Councillors. 

Le Droit obtained the list of councillors who had the most funds accumulated through an access to information request. “Tiffany-Lee Norris Parent, councillor for the Touraine district, had accumulated $261,887; Daniel Champagne in the Versant district had accumulated $259,834; Denis Girouard in Lac-Beauchamp had $223,131; and Mario Aubé in Masson-Angers had a balance of $112,690,” reported Le Droit. 

The CMQ report states this budget allows councillors to cover expenditure on neighbourhood developments. These development requests were carried out and were not previously planned or prioritized budget items.

“A member of the Board is not legally empowered to decide alone whether to award a grant to an organization, nor to commit the City's funds in this regard. The fact that the Executive Committee subsequently authorizes payment of the grant to the organization does not make up for the board member's lack of empowerment,” The CMQ report stated. “There is no legislative provision authorizing a city to accumulate public funds for specific purposes or to set them aside other than through the use of reserved funds and financial reserves.” 

CMQ has required that discretionary budgets be suspended, and a solution be put in place before September 1. The council gathered for their first meeting on the subject on June 9. The meetings were not open to the public and more meetings will be organized in the future to address the issue. Many local organizations have voiced their concern as they relied on this funding to continue their work in the community. 

“A rigorous budgeting process promotes the equitable allocation of resources. Conversely, when a city fails to fully utilize the funds it has budgeted for and collected from its citizens, it can deprive the population of services for which they have been taxed,” the CMQ report stated.