Saint Lazare Councillor Richard Chartrand was asked to resign for comments made to a resident during question period at the council meeting last June and for his email reply to a complaint that was made soon after the meeting.

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Saint Lazare mayor apologies for council's behaviour

Chartrand says email was sent to resident by mistake

Paola Irrera made the request for Chartrand to resign during question period at the council meeting last night, Tuesday, July 11. 

Irrera said the reason she wants Chartrand to resign was because she received a derogatory email response from him that said "...and I quote, "Ma réponse serait je m'excuse veille crisse".

Chartrand's reply was in response to an email Irrera originally sent to Mayor Geneviève Lachance after the council meeting on June 13 to complain about councils' reaction to concerns she has about the quality of the city's drinking water. 

'I was flabbergasted'

In her email, Irrera complained to Lachance about an argumentative and dismissive stance among Chartrand and some other councillors including Pierre Casavant when she raised concerns about the quality of the city's drinking water during question period at the June meeting.

Irrera also sent a copy of the email to all the councillors who were at the meeting in June including Chartrand. 

"Six minutes after my email went out, this is the response I got directly from Mr. Chartrand," said Irrera regarding his reply.

"There were another 11 to 12 blank emails that followed, which were in my view, a feeble attempt at damage control after he realized that I received his email," said Irrera.

"I was flabbergasted to say the least that a public servant would address a citizen regardless of any situation in such fashion. He not only insulted me, he insulted everyone in that council meeting," she said. 

Irrera forwarded Chartrand's email reply to Lachance and all the councillors on June 18.

"I said I did not find his response acceptable as an apology. Sadly the only one who responded was the mayor acknowledging the inappropriateness of the email response. Thank you Madame Mayor," Irrera said.

"I was disappointed no other councillor expressed their disapproval or concern to such a despicable, unprofessional and inappropriate comment and reach out to me by saying that in no way does it reflect on them or show any detachment from communicating that way to residents," said Irrera.

She asked for an apology from Chartrand for his "unprofessional behaviour that night. It was confrontational, argumentative, dismissive and rude at the end". 

Irerra also asked Casavant for an apology for his "eye rolling, arm swinging and irritability during the council meeting (in June). It was unacceptable and inappropriate."

Chartrand was the acting mayor at the June meeting to replace Mayor Lachance who was absent.

'I felt under attack'

Irrera also described how she felt about council's attitude about her concerns during the council meeting in June.

"City council meetings are promoted as a forum for residents to express themselves. The June 13 meeting felt like I was on trial. Many councillors didn't take the time to listen nor respond in turn," said Irrera. 

"I felt under attack by a few councillors, specifically by Mr. Chartrand who was representing the mayor that evening. He kept interrupting me. The YouTube video of that session speaks for itself," Irrera added.

She said that as a city councillor, Chartrand is "a public servant, who responded to me using some deplorable language."

"I was made to feel council's opinions and answers should have sufficed. I was told our water is good and that people who live on reserves don't have drinking water. I don't understand or appreciate that guilt tactic," said Irrera. 

She added Chartrand told her the gunk on her water filter was only minerals and to replace the filter. "Most shockingly he said, 'Did I think or want the city to spend millions of dollars to fix that,'" she said. 

"What kind of a question is that? If there was a very serious health problem shouldn't the city look into fixing it and find a solution at any price? These are all responses that could cause harm. No one thought the water quality could be an issue," said Irrera. 

Neither Chartrand nor Casevant responded to Irrera's request for an apology.