CALEB NICKERSON
CALUMET ISLAND March 5, 2018
Over 50 people gathered in the municipal hall in Calumet Island on March 5 for a heated council meeting where the newly-elected mayor was grilled by local residents and even asked to resign.
Political strife is nothing new for the island of 650 people, which has had four different mayors over the past four years. Two, Irene Nadeau and Pierre Fréchette, cited infighting and impropriety at the municipal office as the reason for their departure.
When Fréchette left in June 2017, he cryptically stated : “Out of respect for my commitment to serve the people ethically, with transparency and accountability in order to maintain their confidence in the municipal apparatus, I resigned in response to an insistent demand to turn a blind eye on a situation going against stipulated contractual obligations.”
Nadeau stepped down in 2016, claiming she had conflicts with administrative staff after she questioned the municipality’s policy regarding unpaid taxes.

The current Mayor, Serge Newberry, was elected in November 2017 in a tight, four-way race that saw him edge out former Mayor Paul-Émile Maleau by less than 20 votes and former councillor Mario Tremblay by less than 50. The only returning councillor this mandate was Réjean Meilleur.
Early last week, an anonymous letter was distributed to mailboxes on the island that criticized Newberry for requesting to increase his hours, and thus, his salary. It also criticized the Director General, Lisa Boisvert, who also started in her position in November.
The letter said that she was inexperienced and questioned her absences from the municipal office. Newberry explained at the meeting that Boisvert resigned last Friday, without an explanation.
The letter also spoke of the conflict between members of council and municipal employees, and encouraged the public to attend the meeting, which they did in droves.
The meeting was over two and a half hours long, and featured over an hour of public question period, almost entirely in French.
Despite the microphone set up for the public, most just shouted out their questions or criticisms from their seats throughout the evening. The discussion was adversarial and chaotic.
Many residents expressed their frustration with Newberry and the council.
Richard LaSalle, a former councillor for 11 years, went so far as to call for Newberry’s resignation.
Following the meeting, Newberry was unfazed.
“There was a lot of people, so it was a little bit stressful but it went really good,” he said. “Everybody had a chance to ask their questions and get the answers they needed to. Our meeting went through normally.”
“There are a few people on the council that seem to be working against us, maybe, but we didn’t let them take control. It just proves that we’re stable and we’re going through things day to day, normally,” he said. “We’re going through a rough patch, that’s all.”
Newberry said he suspects the letter was sent by a member of council. He retracted his proposal to increase his own hours after receiving the criticism, and explained that instead they would be looking for a full-time secretary/treasurer in addition to a new DG.
“First thing that came to mind when I read the letter: it’s a little bit insulting, a little bit condescending, but a lot of the things are true,” he said, explaining that they will be hiring a temporary replacement to fill in as DG for a month while they seek candidates for the two positions.
“We’re calling someone from the FQM, the Quebec Federation of Municipalities,” he said. “They have a service, where if you’re stuck and your DG quits, they have a bank of candidates that they provide … Meanwhile, we’re going to be posting for two jobs: DG and secretary treasurer, something that’s never been done on Calumet Island, we’ve always had only one DG. Obviously we’ve fallen back a little bit, so we’re trying to pick up some of the slack.”
As for LaSalle’s request for his resignation?
“I will definintly not consider my resignation because I still feel that I’m very competant for the position and I have the right vision and lots of energy to push it forward,” Newberry said. “I think we’ll see a lot of progress in the next few years if we can get through this rough patch.”
He explained that the municipal office is currently open every afternoon from Monday to Friday and the municipal inspector is available all day, Monday to Wednesday.