{"id":240,"date":"2015-02-11T21:56:00","date_gmt":"2015-02-11T21:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rf.podcastfixit.com\/index.php\/2015\/02\/11\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\/"},"modified":"2015-06-01T19:40:36","modified_gmt":"2015-06-01T19:40:36","slug":"baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/11\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\/","title":{"rendered":"Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9 reacts to conflict-of-interest ruling"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Robert Frank<\/b>
www.thesuburban.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Stung by a Quebec Municipal Commission judgment that Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9 was complacent\u2014or worse\u2014about conflict of interest going on right under its nose, the town has taken umbrage at the finding. <\/p>\n

Judge Sylvie Pi\u00e9rard and Judge L\u00e9onard Serafini ruled, Dec. 5, that former Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9 councillor Wayne Belvedere was in conflict of interest over a municipal snow clearing contract worth $107,491.32 with his former firm, Landcare. <\/p>\n

The judges didn\u2019t stop there, though. They also reproached the town for \u201chaving been complacent in the face of an obvious conflict of interest that had been, over the years, tolerated and even encouraged.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThe town hired a lawyer [who] verbally informed Mr. Belvedere that he had to let go of his business, now that he was a city councilor,\u201d protested Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9\u2019s top civil servant Nathalie Hadida, in a Jan. 13 letter to Judges Pi\u00e9rard and Serafini.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Belvedere assured city council and administrators that the necessary steps would be taken to remedy the situation,\u201d she told the judges. \u201cThe town was therefore not complacent about the conflict of interest that had been brought to its attention.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cNot our job\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

Hadida went on to tell the judges that city councils don\u2019t have to investigate potential conflicts by elected officials. <\/p>\n

Instead, Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9 left it up to individual citizens to seek justice before the Municipal Commission. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe town…furnished concerned citizens with the information needed to file a complaint, if that\u2019s what they wanted to do,\u201d she added. \u201cSo the town\u2019s actions weren\u2019t culpable and didn\u2019t encourage conflict of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMunicipal civil servants have no [legal] obligation to verify [city councilors\u2019] written declarations of their financial interests,\u201d Hadida asserted. \u201cIt\u2019s not their job. It\u2019s the sole responsibility of individual councilors.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not the city council and the administration\u2019s job to investigate the intrigues of council members,\u201d she wrote. \u201cIt was determined that the town was not obliged to check on whether [ownership of Belvedere\u2019s] business had indeed been transferred [to his son].\u201d <\/p>\n

The judges nonetheless reproached Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9\u2019s code of ethics for not excluding close relatives of elected officials from doing business with the town. <\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike many municipalities, Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9\u2019s code of ethics does not deal with the interests of councillors\u2019 family members,\u201d the judges noted.
\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’, ‘auto’);
\n ga(‘send’, ‘pageview’);<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Robert Frankwww.thesuburban.com Stung by a Quebec Municipal Commission judgment that Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9 was complacent\u2014or worse\u2014about conflict of interest going on right under its nose, the town has taken umbrage at the finding. Judge Sylvie Pi\u00e9rard and Judge L\u00e9onard Serafini ruled, Dec. 5, that former Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9 councillor Wayne Belvedere was in conflict of interest<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nBaie d\u2019Urf\u00e9 reacts to conflict-of-interest ruling - 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\/2015\/02\/11\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9 reacts to conflict-of-interest ruling - Newscoverage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Robert Frankwww.thesuburban.com Stung by a Quebec Municipal Commission judgment that Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9 was complacent\u2014or worse\u2014about conflict of interest going on right under its nose, the town has taken umbrage at the finding. Judge Sylvie Pi\u00e9rard and Judge L\u00e9onard Serafini ruled, Dec. 5, that former Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9 councillor Wayne Belvedere was in conflict of interest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/11\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\/\" \/>\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=\"2015-02-11T21:56:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-06-01T19:40:36+00:00\" \/>\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=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/11\\\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/11\\\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"editor robert\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3\"},\"headline\":\"Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9 reacts to conflict-of-interest ruling\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-11T21:56:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-01T19:40:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/11\\\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":472,\"commentCount\":0,\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/11\\\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/11\\\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/11\\\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\\\/\",\"name\":\"Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9 reacts to conflict-of-interest ruling - Newscoverage\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-11T21:56:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-01T19:40:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/11\\\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/11\\\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/11\\\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9 reacts to conflict-of-interest ruling\"}]},{\"@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":"Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9 reacts to conflict-of-interest ruling - 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\/2015\/02\/11\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9 reacts to conflict-of-interest ruling - Newscoverage","og_description":"By Robert Frankwww.thesuburban.com Stung by a Quebec Municipal Commission judgment that Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9 was complacent\u2014or worse\u2014about conflict of interest going on right under its nose, the town has taken umbrage at the finding. Judge Sylvie Pi\u00e9rard and Judge L\u00e9onard Serafini ruled, Dec. 5, that former Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9 councillor Wayne Belvedere was in conflict of interest","og_url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/11\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\/","og_site_name":"Newscoverage","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/robert.frank.90834","article_published_time":"2015-02-11T21:56:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-06-01T19:40:36+00:00","author":"editor robert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"editor robert","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/11\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/11\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\/"},"author":{"name":"editor robert","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3"},"headline":"Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9 reacts to conflict-of-interest ruling","datePublished":"2015-02-11T21:56:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-06-01T19:40:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/11\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\/"},"wordCount":472,"commentCount":0,"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/11\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/11\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\/","url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/11\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\/","name":"Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9 reacts to conflict-of-interest ruling - Newscoverage","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-02-11T21:56:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-06-01T19:40:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/11\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/11\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2015\/02\/11\/baie-durfe-reacts-to-conflict-of\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Baie d\u2019Urf\u00e9 reacts to conflict-of-interest ruling"}]},{"@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\/240","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=240"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2830,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240\/revisions\/2830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}