The towns of L’Ancienne-Lorette and Saint-Augustin are moving from words to action. They are relaunching legal proceedings against the City of Quebec to challenge the new rules imposed in 2022 regarding their agglomeration share.
As revealed The newspaper last December, this endless saga is far from over, even though the demerged cities have already won their cases in court for years past.
This time, it is the future that poses a problem and the adoption of new regulations establishing the amount of the share imposed by the City of Quebec at the end of 2021 for the services provided by the agglomeration (such as the police , public transport, etc.).
Loretta’s elected officials met in a virtual extraordinary session on Tuesday to appoint a law firm to defend their interests in court.
They “mandated the City prosecutors to lift the suspension” of the court file pending a judgment from the Court of Appeal which had finally ruled in favor of the two demerged cities, overcharged since 2008 by the city center.
The legal file will therefore be reactivated and will include the challenge of the two new regulations adopted “hastily” last December and unilaterally by the City of Quebec for the sharing of mixed expenses, and to set the amount of the share in 2022.
“The hope for renewal aroused on November 24 during my first meeting with the mayor [Bruno] Marchand gave way to disappointment and incomprehension in the face of this unexpected volte-face,” said the mayor of L’Ancienne-Lorette, Gaétan Pageau, in a press release.
“As we cannot assert our position due to the imbalance between the voices of the City of Quebec and the cities linked to the agglomeration council, the only way to be heard is unfortunately to turn again to the courts”, he lamented.
Recourse before the CMQ
The City of Saint-Augustin will also adopt resolutions along the same lines as those of L’Ancienne-Lorette during the regular meeting of the municipal council scheduled for this evening.
The two demerged cities also intend to refer this dispute to the Commission municipale du Québec. In its press release released Tuesday afternoon, the City of L’Ancienne-Lorette invokes the application of sections 69 and 115 of the Act respecting the exercise of certain municipal powers in certain agglomerations.
Juneau remains confident
More tempered than his counterpart in L’Ancienne-Lorette, the mayor of Sylvain Juneau said he was confident of reaching a negotiated settlement, during the year, with the City of Quebec regarding the establishment of the amount of the quota for the years to come.
He also refuses to speak of a “declaration of war”. The legal challenge is more aimed at “protecting the rights” of its taxpayers since the City of Saint-Augustin had a 30-day period to challenge the regulations of the City of Quebec. “My intention is to settle all of this through discussion, but we will be careful and we will challenge to protect our rights.”
The mayor of Quebec Bruno Marchand says he “did everything to avoid this legal action”. “We would have liked it to be otherwise (…) Now, let’s look forward and hope that this appeal will help to clarify the situation once and for all. We obviously want the file to be settled quickly, ”he reacted succinctly.
The mayor said he wanted to wait to see the court documents before commenting further.