The Municipality of Fort-Coulonge is currently without a director general (DG) or assistant DG after its interim DG resigned unexpectedly at the end of February.

Pierre Vaillancourt had been working as the municipality’s interim DG since last spring, when the permanent DG had to step back from the position for medical leave. Vaillancourt was working one day a week until November, as he still held his job of 15 years as DG for the Municipality of Kazabazua. 

In Nov. 2025, he chose to retire from the Kazabazua position after the Commission municipal du Québec ruled in October to remove him from his role as election president for the municipality because it found him to be biased against one of the candidates for mayor. After the Nov. 2 election, Vaillancourt’s hours working for Fort-Coulonge increased.  

By that time, Fort-Coulonge had also hired an assistant DG on an eight-month contract, which began in September. 

This contract was terminated in February when council decided to move ahead with hiring a permanent assistant DG, and move away from the contract and interim positions. 

Fort-Coulonge mayor Pierre Cyr said the municipality cannot hire a permanent DG because its former DG is still officially on sick leave, so has opted instead to hire somebody permanent into the assistant position. 

“The council [decided to] stick with Pierre until we found a full-time person,” Cyr explained. “Then while we were doing that we decided to end the [eight-month] contract because we were opening the full-time position. [ . . . ] It was not useful or well spent money to have two people on interim jobs, so council decided to let go of one, and then open the competition.” 

He said the idea was for Vaillancourt to train the new hire, whenever they were secured, before he would step back later this spring. 

But on Feb. 25, Vaillancourt resigned. 

“This decision is personal and remains confidential, so further details will not be provided,” Cyr told THE EQUITY. 

Vaillancourt said we would not provide comment on this matter at this moment.  

At the time of Vaillancourt’s resignation, he was working 35 hours a week, focusing primarily on the preparation of the 2026 budget and overseeing the financial audit for the year 2024, according to Cyr. 

“It is important to note that the creation of the Assistant DG position was decided during our caucuses in early February and is not directly related to Mr. Vaillancourt’s departure,” Cyr said, explaining the municipality will be taking steps to recruit a new interim DG and will rely on the support of other municipalities’ to ensure continued day-to-day management of the municipality while they hire a permanent assistant DG.

At Fort-Coulonge’s Mar. 3 council meeting, council passed a resolution approving the job posting for the new position, which is open until Mar. 20. 

“We need somebody full-time,” Cyr said. “There’s a lot of things to fix [ . . . ] that are behind or not on the right track. To help face all the challenges within the organisation, to support the new major residential development and recreational projects, the upgrade of our water plant and sewage treatment facility, we feel a permanent DGA is an investment that will pay off.”

Council also passed a resolution approving the hiring of a new municipal inspector to be shared with the Municipality of Litchfield. 

Fort-Coulonge’s former inspector Charles Gallant resigned in January. Gallant, who worked two days a week with Fort-Coulonge as well as for several municipalities across the Pontiac, said he resigned because he grew frustrated with the turnover in the town’s administration team. 

“It’s a service I offer but I need support [from administration] too,” he said. 

Litchfield council still needs to approve the new position. 

“The plan would be to share an inspector and advertise a position as soon as possible. To hire an inspector on a part-time job limits the number of potential candidates. With this partnership, we will attract possibly more qualified candidates and share the costs,” Cyr said.

SQ investigating theft at municipality

Also at the Mar. 3 meeting, council approved the upgrading of the municipality’s security camera system at a cost of $1,700 to the municipality. 

The upgrade will see old cameras replaced with new cameras, and a new camera installed in the town hall’s entrance. 

“To enhance security within the municipal office, a camera has been installed at the entrance, providing surveillance where taxpayers interact with administrative staff,” Cyr said. 

“This camera also monitors the area where cash payments from taxpayers are securely stored, ensuring constant oversight.”

This decision came after two separate thefts this winter saw amounts of $300 and $1,000 stolen from the office. 

Cyr said staff verified to ensure there had been no accounting error before he contacted the Sûreté du Québec, who are now investigating the matter. 

“We wanted to review footage for the investigation and realized it was taking 35 minutes for the system to download an hour of video. It’s a more than 20-year-old system, so that’s why we updated it,” Cyr said