Saguenay grants $70,000 in aid to Mont-Bélu pending a settlement of the conflict

The City of Saguenay is granting $70,000 in aid to the Mont-Bélu ski center, in the La Baie borough, while the establishment remains closed due to an indefinite general strike by seasonal employees.

Saguenay municipal councilors gave their approval to this aid during the monthly meeting of the municipal council held Tuesday in La Baie.

According to the City, Société Bélu, which manages the center, had to pay $121,000 in legal fees and between $30,000 and $40,000 for negotiations.

Three months after the union launched a strike, one of La Baie’s advisors, Jean Tremblay, invited the two parties to negotiate quickly.

I am asking the people concerned, whether it is management or the union, to please sit down at the table and negotiate for as long as possible until you find an arrangement. We must save the ski season for our young people and the people of La Baie. In addition, we don’t know what will happen with ice fishing, so if our ski center also doesn’t open… said the elected official during the council meeting.

The mayor of Saguenay, Julie Dufour, defended the decision to grant an additional sum to the Société Bélu. She hopes that an agreement will be reached quickly since many users frequent the mountain, winter and summer.

We will not let our corporation down and Ville de Saguenay cannot interfere in the union conflict at this time […] City of Saguenay is there. There was no unnecessary spending or waste. There was none of thatassured the mayor.

Remember that the Bélu Company filed several unsuccessful requests to suspend negotiations and employees’ right to strike with the Administrative Labor Tribunal.

Julie Dufour welcomes the commitment of the conservatives

Concerning the issue of reimbursement of expenses linked to the contamination of water with perfluorinated compounds (PFAS) in the Port-Alfred and Grande-Baie sectors, in La Baie, the mayor reacted to the commitment of conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.

During his visit to Saguenay last week, he guaranteed that a Conservative government will reimburse the expenses to find a new source of drinking water and will respect the agreement with the Trudeau government.

The mayor was also able to speak directly with Pierre Poilievre on the issue and he reiterated that his government would be there.

So far, the bill has already amounted to $15 million for the implementation of a temporary solution, an amount which has been reimbursed by Ottawa. The installation of a new water source is estimated at between 50 and 100 million dollars.

It’s a destabilizing situation at the federal level, but the Conservative Party and the Liberals are there. There is the Bloc Québécois which helps us and which wants our drinking water to be treated and that we have a permanent solutionmentioned Ms. Dufour.

New amphitheater: Michel Thiffault will visit Trois-Rivières and Gatineau

The president of the Saguenay Sports, Recreation and Outdoor Commission, Michel Thiffault, qualified important and priority the project for a new sports amphitheater in Saguenay.

During the council meeting, the municipal councilor indicated that he, other elected officials and civil servants would go to Trois-Rivières and Gatineau at the end of January. They want to inform themselves, take notes and learn from these two municipalities which now have new amphitheaters.

We want to draw inspiration from the strengths and weaknesses, modes of governance and methods of financingdeclared the president of the commission.

Michel Thiffault also expressed his desire to look into the case of Magog, where an amphitheater is being built, and that of Sept-Îles, where a corporation linked to the City has been created to manage the new construction. and where a loan of 75 million dollars was taken out.

The door is not closed for a games room

Furthermore, according to the mayor of Saguenay, the City is still interested in hosting a Loto-Québec gaming hall, which has opted for Rimouski for the establishment of a new entertainment establishment. Julie Dufour indicated that discussions are continuing.

By email, a spokesperson for Loto-Québec states that the door is not closed [pour Saguenay]but we are currently focusing on the Rimouski project.

Initially, this idea of ​​hosting a games room, as exists in Quebec and Trois-Rivières, was launched by Michel Thiffault last spring during a municipal council meeting.

Incomprehension for Marc Bouchard

At the start of the session, the designated advisor of the Democratic Renewal Team (ERD), Marc Bouchard, denounced the actions of Mayor Julie Dufour and the members of the Saguenay executive committee in the management of the Caroline dismissal file. Dion.

The representative of district #11 took advantage of his intervention period at the start of the municipal council meeting to criticize the fact that the first magistrate held a press briefing in January 2024 to justify the reasons for dismissal of the former Director of Legal Affairs and Registry.

A press release was then issued to detail the reasons for the dismissal of the woman who was third in importance in the municipal apparatus.

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On December 20, Caroline Dion filed a lawsuit for $600,000 in damages against Mayor Julie Dufour and councilors Michel Potvin, Martin Harvey, Jean Tremblay and Kevin Armstrong.

Marc Bouchard indicated that he had never witnessed an employee file being displayed in public. He also condemned the fact that taxpayers are once again required to pay attorneys’ fees.

You rushed in without worrying about the consequenceslaunched Marc Bouchard.

The case being before the courts, Mayor Dufour was stingy with comments. She simply said that the City of Saguenay was firmly opposed to psychological harassment and that the dismissal was intended in particular to protect our employees who were still suffering a lot.