Saint Lazare Councillor Richard Chartrand said an email he wrote was sent to a resident by mistake and was meant only for council members. 

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Chartrand contacted Néomédia to clarify the matter after an earlier online report revealed the contents of the email that was read aloud to council during question period by Paola Irrera at the monthly council meeting on July 11.

"I was making a joke that night to the other councillors. I wanted to send it to all the councillors and I didn't know Mrs. Irrera was on the list to receive it. When the other councillors told me about it, I sent her an email to say it was a mistake and wasn't meant for her," said Chartrand.

Nothing wrong with the drinking water

The councillor was referring to the council meeting on June 13 in which Irrera and Ignazio Turrigiano showed showed their darkened water softener filter to council during question period and said they were concerned about the quality of the city's water.

Chartrand, who was the acting mayor at the meeting, told Irrera there was nothing wrong with the city's drinking water and that she should change the filter more often. 

Several councillors also said there's nothing wrong with the drinking water and that the city tests the water daily to make sure it conforms to government standards.

"Our water is good and she's still saying the water isn't good because their water filter was dark. I told her to change the filter please. And she said we were impolite with her. Yes, because this lady sends about a thousand emails to the city and to all the councillors about the water," said Chartrand.

"She also told the other council members at that meeting to excuse the way we treated her. She spent 30 minutes saying she doesn't believe the Government of Quebec and things like that. Does she really think Saint Lazare is giving bad water to all our citizens?" he added.

Chartrand reiterates the city's drinking water is good 

"No councillor can say the water isn't good because the water is good. Just because somebody has a bad filter, doesn't change it and makes a complaint, we don't agree with that and tried to explain it as best we could," said Chartrand.

"She said everybody was against her. As councillors we cannot say the water of the city is not good especially when the water is good," Chartrand added. 

"Every day of every week the water has to be analyzed and we have to send the results to the government. That's the way the city runs. It's not a joke. It's something serious. That's my point," he said.

Email sent by mistake

Chartrand also reiterated that he sent an email to Irrera after the council meeting on June 13 by mistake.

He said that he would have spoken about the issue at the last council meeting on July 11 but that he and the other councillors present were told by Mayor Geneviève Lachance not to say anything.

"It was a mistake. I didn't mean to say that to Mrs. Irrera, I said that as a joke to the other councillors. The mistake was that I sent it to her and it wasn't supposed to go there. This doesn't make me look better. That's part of life," said Chartrand.

"The other councillors are not responsible for what I said. They're just reading what I wrote. One of them told me I made a mistake and sent the email to Mrs. Irrera," Chartrand said.

"After that I sent a message saying it wasn't meant for her. I don't want to lie. I just want to tell the truth. It was a mistake. It's like when you hear something said in a conversation that wasn't meant to be heard by you," said Chartrand.

"This person has asked for my resignation. That's very grave just for words and I'm very sorry Mr. Irrera had to see those words. Now she wants an apology when we spent so much time trying to explain about the water to her," he added.

"I believe she's not that honest. She has kind of a quest of saving the people from the bad water of Saint Lazare. No councillor can say the water isn't good. We cannot say that. And this person always sends tons of email to the city and always bothers the officials saying the water isn't good," Chartrand said.