The mayor of a small town in Outaouais, Gaétan Guindon, was ordered to reimburse more than $3,000 in alcohol purchases made with the Denholm municipality credit card.
According to the judgment of the Quebec Municipal Commission (CMQ) rendered last April, Mr. Guindon “used the resources of the municipality for personal purposes” in 2020, 2021 and 2022, using a credit card issued in his name, but paid for by the city.
Among the questionable expenses, CMQ investigators detected numerous restaurant meals exceeding the limits in place and as well as alcohol expenses outside of meals.
According to the mayor, the meal expenses could not be blamed on him, because they had been made “in the exercise of his duties” and that the “alcohol expenses were justified as long as they were not prohibited.”
No choice but to approve them
In court, Councilor Richard Poirier, who sat on the Finance Committee, explained that he had “no real choice in approving” the mayor’s expenses, since the City had the obligation to pay the balance of the credit card.
-Mr. Poirier indicated that he “often approved the expenses made with the credit card reluctantly, even if he considered them unjustified”, because he feared being “disowned” by the municipal council.
The court required that Gaétan Guindon reimburse his alcohol costs to the municipality of Denholm, but did not require that he pay for meals that exceeded the maximum amount provided.
Mr. Guindon served as mayor of Denholm for almost 11 years. He resigned a few weeks before this judgment by the Quebec Municipal Commission (CMQ), just after being found guilty of impaired driving.
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