WATCH ABOVE: There’s a controversy brewing in Dorval as councillors are wrestling with whether or not to replace a colleague who passed away over the holidays. Billy Shields has details.
DORVAL – Christopher von Roretz came to the city council meeting expecting to exchange heated words over why there wasn’t going to be a municipal by-election.
To his surprise, he left satisfied. Dorval Mayor Edgar Rouleau announced at the beginning of the meeting that a by-election would occur, likely at the end of April. The announcement ended a controversy that had been brewing for days, after Rouleau made comments to a local newspaper that appeared he opposed filling a city council seat vacated by the passing of Heather Allard on the grounds that it would cost too much.
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“Definitely there will be a by-election,” Rouleau said.
Allard, 62, succumbed to cancer shortly before Christmas. She was a well-liked councillor who started serving in 1991. Allard was known for taking up environmental causes and represented District 5, close to the border with Pointe-Claire.
According to Sonia Fontaine, of the Quebec Elections Board, a municipality must have a by-election unless a general election is less than a year away. After Rouleau’s remarks to that newspaper, the stage looked set for a controversy. He made no clarifying comments afterwards until Monday’s city council meeting.
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“People may have interpreted things differently from us, but council makes decisions at council meetings and that’s what we’re doing tonight,” he said.
Fellow Councillor Margo Heron made some emotional remarks about Allard’s career. “She was my sister, on council and in life,” Heron said. The council held a moment of silence, and then opened question period.
For von Roretz, though, the experience left him with more questions than answers as the controversy fizzled almost as quickly as it surfaced.
“What’s this about? Read the article. It’s not in the website, not in the communique the city didn’t comment on it. What’s going on here?”
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