MONTREAL — The three complainants who filed conflict-of interest allegations against the Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) chair Suanne Stein Day are contesting an ethics commissioner ruling.
The allegations against Stein Day were declared unfounded in a report published by the school board ethics commissioner Bernard Grenier on September 12.
According to the school board, Grenier said there was “no evidence of any conflict of interest on the part of Stein Day.”
“The evidence before me does not support allegations taken against Mrs. Stein Day for conflict of interest,” Grenier, a lawyer with Schurman, Longo and Grenier, apparently said in the report.
Watch: Lester B. Pearson conflict of interest
Cindy MacDonald, Michelle Poupore and Luc Horne alleged that Stein Day was in a situation of conflict of interest while she was an executive member of the Quebec Federation of Home and School Associations.
Although the school board’s statement suggested that the three complainants did not respond to requests for a meeting with the ethics commissioner. However, two of the three complainants said Tuesday that they did make efforts try to provide testimony, but no follow up meeting dates were arranged.
“How can a legal decision be made when one of the complainants never had an opportunity to present his testimony,” Horne asked in a statement.
They are also concerned about missing documents central to the report, and by the fact that Grenier’s ruling was unsigned and undated.
Stein Day said that she was not surprised by the ethics commissioner’s ruling.
“I have always conducted myself in the most professional manner and am completely aware of the rules governing conflict of interest,” Stein Day said.
READ MORE: Extracurriculars at centre of LBPSB conflict-of-interest allegations
“There was no truth in the allegations, as confirmed by Me. Grenier,” Stein Day said.
“It is unfortunate that these accusations may have also minimized the extraordinary value that parent volunteers add to our school communities through local Home and School Associations.”
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