Quebec Municipal Commission gives councillor Bureau five-day suspension without pay

Aylmer councillor Audrey Bureau won’t be able to go to work for the first week of September, after the Commision Municipale du Québec’s (CMQ) found her guilty of an infraction she committed over a year ago. The CMQ’s decision – made in July - stated that Bureau used some of her research funds to pay her mother to deliver neighbourhood bulletins to residents between April 2018 and June 2019.

A press release issued by the city of Gatineau on August 17 stated that the Aylmer councillor acted in good faith despite being found guilty, and had been considerably cooperative in the investigation process. The CMQ’s decision detailed that Bureau assigned several distribution contracts to her mother, after being unable to land a non-profit organization to deliver neighbourhood bulletins to residents at an affordable price, despite trying at length. Realizing she could have a family member provide the service instead, the Aylmer councillor turned to her mother, Christiane Gourde, for help. She verified this with the city clerk before signing the contracts.

Knowing she had made a mistake, Bureau tried to rectify it before the CMQ’s Direction du contentieux et des enquêtes received the file in June, by paying the money back to the city in March, before apologizing to municipal councillors and residents in April and providing them with an apology letter during their public meeting on May 12.

Since her judgement was brought to municipal council on August 25, Bureau will be suspended without pay from August 31 to September 4. Accepting her error, it was noted that Bureau wants to move on with her life and serve her constituents to the best of her abilities.