They traveled to Fredericton on June 10 to file a petition.
They also filed an application for judicial review of Daniel Allain’s decision in the Court of Queen’s Bench.
An “irregular” letter
At the center of their challenge: an email sent by the president of the advisory committee Steven Cormier to the Minister of Local Government Daniel Allain at 10:55 a.m. on February 11.
The email indicated that four out of five members of the committee had voted in favor of the decision to merge with Lamèque.
Seven minutes later, the minister forwarded the message to his deputy minister Ryan Donaghy.
Timing is everything [le temps est tout]
wrote Mr. Allain.
Yet the committee meeting did not begin until 7:10 p.m. that evening, more than eight hours after the first email was sent.
many questions
One of the citizens leading the charge in this file, Gastien Godin, has many questions, since the minister has often cited this consensus to defend the merger with Lamèque.
Something was happening between them. The Minister awaited the decision. It is obvious that the letter is irregular. It’s not legit
says Mr. Godin.
” The minister knows it and he does nothing. That’s why we had to turn to the courts »
A spokesperson for the minister said no comment would be made due to legal proceedings.
Steven Cormier could not be reached either.
The MP for Shippagan-Lamèque-Miscou, the Liberal Éric Mallet, indicated that he did not want to favor one party or the other, but maintains that the Minister must listen to the residents of the Local Service Districts (LSDs) in connection with the process.
the DSL de Chiasson-Savoy is located on the island of Lamèque, but is geographically closer to the municipality of Shippagan than to that of Lamèque. The children of this community go to school in Shippagan, for example, and the citizens mainly use the services of this city.
Shippagan or Lameque?
According to documents obtained by the citizens’ group, the Ministry of Local Government had decided on February 4 that Chiasson-Savoy would be twinned with Shippagan.
On February 6, Steven Cormier wrote to the minister to tell him that the committee wanted to wait before taking a position.
In an internal memo prepared for the Minister in anticipation of a call with Mr. Cormier on February 7, the recommendation to include Chiasson-Savoy in Shippagan is reiterated, even if it was logical that all the communities on the island be merged with Lameque.
The same evening, Mr. Cormier wrote to the Minister to tell him that the community was undecided and asked to organize a plebiscite on the question.
Four days later, the committee wrote to the minister that the decision to join Lamèque had been made and the province confirmed this choice on February 15.
Gastien Godin acknowledges that the minister can make decisions, but adds that precedents have established that a minister must act reasonably
in the exercise of this power.
The case will be heard in the Court of Queen’s Bench on August 11 in Bathurst.
With information from Jacques Poitras of CBC
Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca