Less than 24 hours after being sworn as mayor of the newly merged City of Saguenay on February 19, 2002, Jean Tremblay moved swiftly into action and convened the city manager — and rebuked him. Fifteen minutes later, the colourful and popular mayor headed towards Bertrand Girard’s office, with television cameras in tow, and handed him a letter that stated he was suspended without pay. Shortly after, Girard was fired.
Seven years later, in a ruling that harshly castigates the mayor for providing testimony akin to science fiction, Quebec Superior Court condemned the city and the mayor to pay nearly $600,000, plus interest and legal costs, to the city manager for wrongful dismissal.
“The Mayor’s testimony was riddled with hesitations, mistakes, forgetfulness, contradictions and false pretexts,” said Judge Yves Alain in a 60-page ruling. “The evidence clearly reveals that the three events held by the Mayor to suspend and dismiss Girard constitute pretexts founded on personal animosity that were used to put an end to the city manager’s contract. There is no doubt these events took place after the final decision was made by the Mayor and his close advisors, who had no intention of working with Girard as the city manager of the new city.”