By Jack Wilson
Local Journalism Initiative
Sherbrooke’s city council is getting outside help to address what many are calling a difficult work environment.
The council passed Rock Forest councillor Annie Godbout’s motion calling for an outside mediator Feb. 20. The Commission municipale du Québec will be in charge of the mediation process.
Godbout said she decided to draft the motion following suggestions from Sherbrooke mayor Évelyne Beaudin that the tension on council would be here to stay. “It isn’t right for us to stay in this situation for two years. For me, the mayor needs to bring people together and make compromises,” Godbout said. “This is an unacceptable position for the mayor.”
Godbout cited councillor Marc Denault’s resignation as Société de transport de Sherbrooke president as an example of poor relationships on council. Denault had cited exclusion from a meeting with provincial Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility Geneviève Guilbault as the reason for his departure. He had charged that the mayor’s chief of staff lied when he said the exclusion had come at Guilbault’s request.
“That wasn’t fun,” Godbout said.
