{"id":1516,"date":"2013-11-20T16:52:00","date_gmt":"2013-11-20T16:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rf.podcastfixit.com\/index.php\/2013\/11\/20\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\/"},"modified":"2015-06-01T19:41:28","modified_gmt":"2015-06-01T19:41:28","slug":"laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/20\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\/","title":{"rendered":"Laval opposition councillors cry foul"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Genevi\u00e8ve April<\/b>
\nwww.thesuburban.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Just two weeks after their election, opposition councillors at city hall are already complaining that Mayor Marc Demers\u2019 municipal government and his team are keeping them in the dark about important city business.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned of Fran\u00e7ois Brochu\u2019s nomination [as the mayor\u2019s spokesman] and others through local newspapers,\u201d objected Michel Trottier, the independent who represents Fabreville district. \u201cI didn\u2019t even know that there was to be an executive meeting or that such an appointment was pending.\u201d<\/p>\n

The same goes for the decision to lift city lawyers\u2019 immunity from testifying at the Charbonneau Commission. Trottier said that the agenda he received failed to mention that resolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not a topic that should be decided on the spur of the moment and added casually at the end under the heading \u2018other business\u2019,\u201d Trottier asserted.<\/p>\n

When made aware of these comments, Mayor Demers was taken aback.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say that the comments are unjustified, to put it mildly. We were sworn in Wednesday, and had to make urgent decisions quickly. If he calls that a lack of communication, I would invite anyone who thinks so to give pause to think about what we were dealing with at the time. Maybe then he would conclude that he didn\u2019t have all the facts at his disposal that he ought to have had, before he passed judgement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Demers said that his invitation to opposition councillors to participate publicly in last week\u2019s swearing-in ceremony, and to meet with them even before he met his own team members, demonstrated his good will.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe showed an unusual openness to our opponents,\u201d he suggested.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome communications dynamics still need to be put in place,\u201d Trottier responded. \u201cAs a city councillor, I ought to be informed of pending projects and decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trottier reiterated that everyone at city hall is new to their function, and has to learn the ropes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt might be because we\u2019re all rookies,\u201d he acknowledged. \u201cWe need to learn how to communicate effectively so we can work together in the best interest of Laval\u2019s citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

What about collaboration? <\/b>
\n
<\/b>
\nTo give each councillor a chance to express their interests, Demers met all of them\u2014ML and opposition\u2014before deciding who would be appointed to various important municipal committees, though ultimately no opposition councillors were nominated.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo my knowledge, neither Paolo Galati (St. Vincent de Paul) nor Aglaia Revelakis (Chomedey) have been asked to join any committee,\u201d said Emilio Migliozzi, Action Laval\u2019s unsuccessful candidate in Vimont district, \u201cdespite the fact that they both have really good credentials\u2014Paolo is a successful businessman and Aglaia has extensive political knowledge and experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michel Trottier confirmed he too was not selected to serve as a member of any committee. He acknowledged discussing his qualifications and interests with Demers, during a one-on-one meeting which he qualified as friendly. Since then, he reported, he has not heard a word from any of his fellow councillors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to address several urgent matters, and appointed people to permit business to continue to proceed smoothly,\u201d explained Demers. \u201cMany other positions remain to be filled, but less urgently. There should be other announcements to follow in coming months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Demers did not exclude the possibility of appointing opposition councillors to any particular committee, but said that he wanted to get to know them better, learn their strengths and motivation and develop mutual trust. <\/p>\n

\u201cI need to know more about them than just their pictures,\u201d he quipped.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\nFabreville city councilor Michel Trottier said that Mayor Marc Demers, who made transparency the centrepiece of his election campaign, has started off on the wrong foot by keeping him and the other three opposition councilors in the dark and on the sidelines.<\/b><\/div>\n

(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i[‘GoogleAnalyticsObject’]=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
\n (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
\n m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
\n })(window,document,’script’,’\/\/www.google-analytics.com\/analytics.js’,’ga’);<\/p>\n

ga(‘create’, ‘UA-45892555-1’, ‘robertfrankmedia.blogspot.com’);
\n ga(‘send’, ‘pageview’);<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Genevi\u00e8ve April www.thesuburban.com Just two weeks after their election, opposition councillors at city hall are already complaining that Mayor Marc Demers\u2019 municipal government and his team are keeping them in the dark about important city business. \u201cI learned of Fran\u00e7ois Brochu\u2019s nomination [as the mayor\u2019s spokesman] and others through local newspapers,\u201d objected Michel Trottier,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nLaval opposition councillors cry foul - Newscoverage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/20\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Laval opposition councillors cry foul - Newscoverage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Genevi\u00e8ve April www.thesuburban.com Just two weeks after their election, opposition councillors at city hall are already complaining that Mayor Marc Demers\u2019 municipal government and his team are keeping them in the dark about important city business. \u201cI learned of Fran\u00e7ois Brochu\u2019s nomination [as the mayor\u2019s spokesman] and others through local newspapers,\u201d objected Michel Trottier,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/20\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newscoverage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/robert.frank.90834\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-11-20T16:52:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-06-01T19:41:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Michel-Trottier-Fabreville.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"320\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"165\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"editor robert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"editor robert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/11\\\/20\\\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/11\\\/20\\\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"editor robert\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3\"},\"headline\":\"Laval opposition councillors cry foul\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-20T16:52:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-01T19:41:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/11\\\/20\\\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":703,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/11\\\/20\\\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/11\\\/Michel-Trottier-Fabreville.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/11\\\/20\\\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/11\\\/20\\\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/11\\\/20\\\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\\\/\",\"name\":\"Laval opposition councillors cry foul - Newscoverage\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/11\\\/20\\\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/11\\\/20\\\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/11\\\/Michel-Trottier-Fabreville.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-20T16:52:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-01T19:41:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/11\\\/20\\\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/11\\\/20\\\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/11\\\/20\\\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/11\\\/Michel-Trottier-Fabreville.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/11\\\/Michel-Trottier-Fabreville.jpg\",\"width\":320,\"height\":165},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2013\\\/11\\\/20\\\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Laval opposition councillors cry foul\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Newscoverage\",\"description\":\"newscoverage.org\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3\",\"name\":\"editor robert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"editor robert\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/robert.frank.90834\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/editor-robert\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Laval opposition councillors cry foul - Newscoverage","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/20\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Laval opposition councillors cry foul - Newscoverage","og_description":"By Genevi\u00e8ve April www.thesuburban.com Just two weeks after their election, opposition councillors at city hall are already complaining that Mayor Marc Demers\u2019 municipal government and his team are keeping them in the dark about important city business. \u201cI learned of Fran\u00e7ois Brochu\u2019s nomination [as the mayor\u2019s spokesman] and others through local newspapers,\u201d objected Michel Trottier,","og_url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/20\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\/","og_site_name":"Newscoverage","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/robert.frank.90834","article_published_time":"2013-11-20T16:52:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-06-01T19:41:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":320,"height":165,"url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Michel-Trottier-Fabreville.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"editor robert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"editor robert","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/20\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/20\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\/"},"author":{"name":"editor robert","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3"},"headline":"Laval opposition councillors cry foul","datePublished":"2013-11-20T16:52:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-06-01T19:41:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/20\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\/"},"wordCount":703,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/20\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Michel-Trottier-Fabreville.jpg","inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/20\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/20\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\/","url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/20\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\/","name":"Laval opposition councillors cry foul - Newscoverage","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/20\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/20\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Michel-Trottier-Fabreville.jpg","datePublished":"2013-11-20T16:52:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-06-01T19:41:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/20\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/20\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/20\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Michel-Trottier-Fabreville.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Michel-Trottier-Fabreville.jpg","width":320,"height":165},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/20\/laval-opposition-councillors-cry-fou\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Laval opposition councillors cry foul"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/","name":"Newscoverage","description":"newscoverage.org","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3","name":"editor robert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"editor robert"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/robert.frank.90834"],"url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/author\/editor-robert\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1516"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4446,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516\/revisions\/4446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}