PRESENTED DURING THE 2015 QUEBEC FEDERATION OF MUNICIPALITIES CONGRESS
September 25th, 2015
A TEAM MAYOR – DIRECTOR GENERAL:
A WINNING TEAM FOR MUNICIPAL
ADMINISTRATION
TRANSLATED AND PRESENTED BY Ms VALÉRIE BELLE-ISLE, Esq. AND Ms
CHLOÉ FAUCHON, Esq
1. Introduction
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In a municipality, there is:
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One boss: the council
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And two leaders: the political leader (the mayor) and the
administrative leader (the director general)
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For a municipality to operate efficiently, the
mayor and the director general must act with
complicity and form a team.
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To form an outstanding team, it is important
that each person respects the role of the
other. It is also important to help other
members assume their role in the team.
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2. THE MAYOR AND THE DIRECTOR
GENERAL’S RESPECTIVE ROLES
ACCORDING TO THE LAW
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2.1 The Mayor’s Role
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Rights of superintendence, investigation and
control over all the affairs and officers of the
municipality;
Sees to the faithful and impartial execution of
the council’s decicions;
Communicates to the council any information
or recommendation which he considers
conducive to the interests of the municipality
and its inhabitants;
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Signs all by-laws, resolutions, obligations,
contracts, agreements or deeds;
Has a suspensive veto;
Presides over the sittings of the council and
convenes any special sittings;
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Maintains order and decorum and may order
that any person disturbing a sitting of the
council be removed;
Is in charge of the access to documents (a
charge he usually delegates);
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2.2 The Director General’s Role
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Acts under the authority of the council (and of
the administrative committee, if there is one)
Responsible for the administration of the
municipality;
May convene a special sitting of the council;
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Plans, organizes, directs and supervises the
activities of the municipality;
Ensures communication between the council
and the other officers and employees of the
municipality;
Has access to all the documents of the
municipality and may require any document or
information from any officer or employee
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Assists the council in the preparation of the
budget;
Examines the complaints and claims against
the municipality;
Examines the draft by-laws;
Attends the meetings of the council and
committees;
Reports to the council on the carrying out of its
decisions;
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2.3 Additional Powers for the Mayor and
Director General under the Cities and
Towns Act
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The mayor or director general both have the
right to suspend any officer or employee of the
municipality at any time.
Note: the council (not the mayor) of a
municipality under the Municipal Code may
delegate this power to the director general
through a by-law.
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3. SEPARATION OF POWERS BETWEEN
ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES AND
OFFICERS: THE JUDICIAL APPROACH
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Justice Allard, S.C.J. said the following
regarding the mayor’s role in Alain c.
3104-2955 Québec inc., 2001 CanLII 11766
(QC CS) (the following excerpts have been loosely translated
from French) :
« [46] The mayor, by intervening following a citizen’s
complaint regarding the use of the roadfed gravel and
the application of the by-law, was not minding his own
business.
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[47] Evidence shows that he kept the administration
centralized in his own hands. He embodied the municipal
authority. Section 142 of the Municipal Code defines his
powers and dictates his duties as the head of the
municipal Council :
« The head of the council exercises the rights of
superintendence, of investigation and of control
over all the affairs and officers of the municipality,
[…], sees to the faithful and impartial execution of
by-laws and resolutions […]».
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[48] Acting the way he did, the mayor put himself in the
position of a subordinate while his duty is to see to the
carrying out of the municipal decisions. In such a
situation, how can he exercise his right of
superintendence on what is happening in the
municipality’s affairs? How can he have the independence
to investigate the citizen’s complaint? How can he
exercise control when he is required to carry out the
general power of the chief magistrate, particularly in
cases of force majeure? »
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>  To
exercise the rights of superintendence and
control does not mean the mayor can act
instead of municipal officers.
>  The
mayor must be able to remain above the
fray.
21
 
The Superior Court, in the case Girard c. Saguenay,
2009 QCCS 5164, comments on the director general’s
role as follows (the following excerpts have been loosely translated from
French) :
« [118] According to the authors Hétu and
Duplessis, if the powers and duties of offiers such as
the director general are defined in the law, it is
because Parliament wanted to grant them the
independance as well as the autonomy necessary for
the good administration of the municipality. »
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[119] The director general is required to act as an
intermediate between the council, the other officers
and the population. His role is two-fold. First he is an
employee holding several responsibilities and reporting
directly to the council. Second, he represents the
council in its dealings with other municipal
employees.
[120] In short, employees and executives have a duty
to act faithfully and honestly towards him. This duty is
however not absolute, as employees do not have to
subit to their superior’s unreasonnable demands or to
abuse of power.»
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Acting as an intermediate between the council and
other officers does not mean the director general
can act instead of the council, but rather that he
must act according to the council’s decisions.
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He must also avoid trying to “play mayor”, or block
the mayor’s political initiatives.
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The other officers have a duty to act faithfully and
honestly towards the director general.
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In La Reine c. Maurice Prud’homme, AZ-950031401,
31 août 1995, C.Q., the Court of Québec came to the
following conclusions regarding the mayor’s duty to
inform the council (the following excerpts have been loosely translated
from French)
:
Pages 26-27:
“ Following Justice Baudouin’s analysis in Perrault,
precited, we must ask ourselves whether the accused
acted or omitted to act in conflict with his duties as per
the law, by-laws, his work contract or an administrative
guideline regarding his functions.
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Other than the fact that Mr Collins told the accused that
one of the reasons he thought he could not recommend
Robert Prud’homme as treasurer was the existence of a
family relationship between them and the risk that this
would cause conflicts of interest or at least the
appearance of such conflict, we should also keep in mind
section 52 of the Cities and Towns Act, which provides
that the mayor shall see “ that the provisions of the law
and all by-laws, rules and regulations of the council are
faithfully and impartially enforced. He shall lay before the
council such proposals as he may deem necessary or
advisable, and shall communicate to the council all
information and suggestions relating to the improvement
of the finances, police, health, security, cleanliness,
comfort and progress of the municipality.”
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As such, it is clear that by omitting to inform the
council of the recommendations outlined in
Municonsult’s report regarding the requirements for
the job openings and by unilaterally modifying these
conditions in order to limit the number of applicants,
thus favoring his son’s application, as well as
removing some requirements in order to allow a
councillor from his party to apply on another opening
he wanted him to fill, especially considering said
report was ordered following a resolution from the
council, the accused failed to fulfil at least two of his
duties under section 52 of the aforementioned Act.”
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Page 29:
“It is obvious that by modifying the academic
requirements for the post of deputy director general and
willfully hiding these modifications and failing to get them
approved by the council, the accused is in breach of his
legal duties as a mayor. It is more than a simple technical
error or a mere administrative misstep to fail to submit a
draft report to the council who ordered it by resolution,
and to modify without prior approval such critical
elements as the academic requirements for a job opening
in order to favor a specific applicant.”
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Pages 31-32:
I find it however much more difficult to accept when I see
the accused willfully attempting to bypass a city policy
which provides that this type of internship is not to be
remunerated, ordering a cheque to be prepared without
getting prior approval for this special procedure from the
council, demanding that a budget post be found to file this
payment under, by “forgetting” to inform councillors that
the amount of $500 to be approved as professional fees is
actually payment for his niece working as an intern in a
position that should be unpaid, and by “forgetting” to
inform the council that internships of this sort have always
been unpaid in the past. 29
What I see here are blatant breaches of a mayor’s legal
duties, whether it is the duty to see to the faithful and
impartial enforcement of the by-laws, rules, regulations
and orders of the council, the duty to see that the revenue
of the municipality is collected and expended according to
law, or the duty to communicate to the council all the
necessary information.”
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When an issue is discussed in council, the mayor must be
transparent and communicate any information he has.
31
 
The Commission des relations du travail, in the
Faucher et Bastiscan (Municipalité de), 2013
QCCRT 93 case, had the following opinion on a
director general’s freedom of expression on
matters regarding municipal administration:
« [51] When she is told, among other things, about
her criticisms of the council’s positions, she argues
that she is entitled to her “opinion as a citizen.”
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The consultant, Mr Trépanier, reminds her that it is
not her role to criticize. She is to advise elected
officials and carry out their decisions. There are also
attempts to help her better organize her work and
avoid having to work overtime. […]
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[105] The municipality thus established that through
her attitude and actions, plaintiff breached the
relationship of trust essential to the continuation of
the employer-employee relationship.
[106] First of all, plaintiff has worked for two years as
director general. She is the chief officer among the
municipality’s five employees.
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[107] Section 211 of the Municipal Code provides that
she is to be “responsible for the administration of the
municipality and for that purpose [s]he shall plan,
organize, direct and supervise the activities of the
municipality”, all of this under the authority of the
municipal council. She also ensures communication
between the council and the other officers of the
municipality and assists the council members (S.
212(1) and (2)).
[108] In the Commission’s eyes, this means that a high
level of trust and constant collaboration between her
and the members of the council is essential.”
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A director general who publicly criticizes the council
breaches the relationship of trust between him and the
council.
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4. CONCLUSIONS
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In their respective roles, the mayor and the
director general are without a doubt privileged
partners.
The description of their respective
responsibilities implies their collaboration.
They have no choice but to speak and act in
concert.
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Thank you, and have a nice day!
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