Interim director for Municipality of Pontiac

Mo Laidlaw

Benedikt Kuhn resigned as Director General (DG) of the municipality of Pontiac, effective December 31, 2018, to take a post at Transcollines, the public transit network of the MRC des Collines-de-l’Outaouais, starting in January. Mr Kuhn has worked at the municipality since July 2012, first as assistant DG, and then from December 2013 as DG. Before that he worked at the MRC Pontiac in cultural development. His new post involves economic, social and cultural development.

According to the municipal code every municipality must have a secretary-treasurer, who is also the DG. No temporary replacement was available from the Federation of Quebec Municipalities (FQM) or the ministry of Municipal Affairs, nor was there an existing senior employee available or interested to hold a temporary position. However Charlotte Laforest is available temporarily. She is a resident and former councillor of Chelsea. She holds a master’s degree in administration and was chair of the largest francophone school board in Ontario, Grandes Rivières, in Timmins, and has a strong background in human resources, conflict resolution and union negotiating.

Mme Laforest’s primary task is to hire a new DG, and a call for nominations is in progress. In December she shadowed Mr Kuhn for a week.

Mayor Joanne Labadie said, “The resignation of Mr Kuhn is a big loss, with him goes a lot of corporate memory. We will miss him.”