In response to the Regional Federation of NPO d’habitation Montérégie – Estrie, which on Wednesday demanded that Quebec conduct an investigation into this $18 million transaction, lawyer Serge Dubois asserts that it was the members of the now-dissolved Pensioners’ Society who made the decisions in connection with the sale.
The choice that was made was to put the money in the hands of the members. So the members will decide what to do with it. They still have constraints to meet, which stem from the decisions they have made. Then they will make their decisions
he explains.
In its request for dissolution, theNPO the Ephemeral Orientation indicates that its assets have been divided proportionately among the members. According to the Companies Registry, the company had five directors. However, it was impossible for us to know how many members it has altogether.
But the lawyer Serge Dubois, who was also secretary of the Pensioners’ Society for several decades, persists and signs: there is nothing illegal in the actions that were committed by the parties involved in the sale.
” We have decided to terminate the non-profit status of the society. […] It’s not a first what we did, and it was validated with the best professionals in the country. »
The latter also believes that the sellers have no accountability to the City of Sherbrooke, despite the approaches that Mayor Évelyne Beaudin says she has tried.
It is a private company. Why should we talk to the Mayor of the City? Because she’s the mayor of the city? […] There is no fraud and no criminal act that was committed in this file, and by the way, the modifications that were made exceeded the legal […] The dissolution was received, in accordance with the law.
In an interview with Radio-Canada, the lawyer refused to reveal the details surrounding the company of retirees, considering that this information was in the private domain.
The sale of Faubourg Mena’Sen raises many questions, particularly with the Regional Federation of Montérégie – Estrie housing NPOs and the City of Sherbrooke.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Thomas Deshaies
Tenants have protection
Faced with the concerns raised by several people in connection with a possible increase in the price of rents, the lawyer is reassuring.
I don’t see how that [la vente du faubourg] will change the management of the building. […] Tenants have protection.
This protection, to which he refers, represents the maximum increase rate set each year by the Administrative Housing Tribunal.
We have telephones where we are told that the building owners are all bad guys, who are going to increase the rents. I find that to be a prejudice. If there are those who want to help the tenants, let them form a committee at the City and offer the residents every year to help them to ensure that the law will be applied.
he believes.
Immorality discarded
The Regional Federation of NPO d’habitation also described, on Wednesday, “immoral” the sale of Faubourg Mena’Sen to a private company.
I don’t consider legal situations to be immoral. When the law allows something to be done, it is probably because the legislator considered it ok to do it that way.
believes Serge Dubois.
He also believes that the case has taken on disproportionate proportions in the public arena.
It starts from a premise that is false, because it is a misunderstanding of corporate mechanisms. We are not a public company. […] If you speak with lawyers, they will explain to you that what we have done is legal and it is part of the rules of the game, it is part of the things we can do.
The sale price would have been entirely paid by the buyer, according to him. He says he is open to collaborating with the Ministry of Revenue, to which the company is subject, if it wishes to analyze the file in more depth.
With information from Titouan Bussières
Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca