The Municipality of Portage-du-Fort held its regular monthly meeting on Sept. 2, where council announced it would issue another job posting for its vacant permanent director general (DG) position. 

While council had voted at a special meeting in August to hire one of the candidates who applied for the position, that person backed out at the last minute, leaving the municipality in the lurch. 

“We did all the steps we were supposed to do, we had all the special meetings [ . . . ] We had hired somebody, and at the last minute, last Thursday, they backed out,” said councillor Martin Hérault.

The municipality has been without a permanent DG since May, when former Portage DG Lisa Dagenais was suspended by council in a split vote. She resigned shortly after. Former Waltham DG Fernand Roy was then hired by the municipality on a short-term basis to assist then-interim DG Joanne MacDonald, who was hired in May. 

At Portage-du-Fort’s June meeting, council agreed to hire Roy for what was estimated to be 30 hours at a rate of $65 per hour, to assist MacDonald. At the August meeting, it was noted that Roy had actually billed the municipality for 97 hours, completing the last of his work that Monday, Aug. 3.

Mayor Kevin Murphy explained following the August meeting that there was a lot to do to get the office back in order following the sudden departure of the former DG. 

“He said it shouldn’t take him more than 30 hours but when he started here he dug into it, there was lots of stuff that needed to be done that two people needed to be here to do, to get back up [to speed],” he said.

At a special meeting at the end of August, the municipality opted to hire Roy as interim DG for a period of 30 days while a job posting is issued for a permanent position. Councillors Cody Coughlin and Dominic Bisson voted against hiring Roy.

Coughlin said that he had some questions about Roy’s contract as well as his background that weren’t answered before the vote, which is why he voted against it. 

“I have also been given conflicting information about his time as DG of Waltham. Some say he was cleared, while others say he was not cleared, but council decided not to pursue legal action. This was not clarified or discussed.”

Roy resigned from the Municipality of Waltham in February 2024, where he had worked since 1985. Following his resignation, the Commission Municipale du Québec (CMQ) issued a report in August 2024 on his conduct at the municipality, detailing what it called a “serious breach of ethical and professional standards” and “misuse of public funds”.

At the time Roy said he disagreed “with the factual findings and the conclusions included in the report.”

While a CMQ investigation is not the same as a criminal investigation, and the Municipality of Waltham has not pursued Roy in court, the results of CMQ’s report still stand and are available on their website. 

In an email following the September meeting, Roy wrote that the municipality would be starting the hiring process over and issuing another job posting.

“Council decided to start the process from scratch. We will be advertising in the Journal and with all employers services available, such as Carrefour Jeunesse emploi, SADC and we are calling on other DG that may be available,” he wrote. “Also contacting the ADMQ association for candidates.”