Québec appoints an accompanist to supervise the Montreal School Tax Management Committee whose working climate is so “worrying” that the psychological health of its employees is downright compromised.
Our investigation office reported in April that the Minister of Education Bernard Drainville had ordered the holding of an investigation after the suicide of director Pierre Venne as well as in connection with allegations of toxic working climate.
Pierre Venne took off life on March 6, two days after having been suspended from his job after 33 years of service in the management committee of the Île de Montréal (CGTSIM). In the process, the Quebec Association of School Managers had asked Quebec to intervene.
The report of the firm latitude given last month to Minister Drainville confirms the existence of a climate of “division” and “polarization” within the CGTSIM.
“Several members of the CGTSIM have expressed that they had lived or have witnessed certain situations which are similar to incivility, harassment and discrimination,” writes the firm latitude.
The guide appointed by the Minister will have to submit an action plan to him by next December.
The guardianship is not dismissed
According to our information, Quebec plans to go to the supervision, if the approach with the accompanist does not bear fruit.
“The verifications carried out confirm that there are effectively important stakes of working climate within the organization. No one should have to work in such a climate. This situation can no longer continue, ”said Minister Drainville’s communications director Antoine de la Durantaye.
“Let’s be clear: everyone will have to participate in the process, everyone will have to do their part. Management must take the necessary means to make changes. If the efforts and the results are not there, we will not hesitate to go further, “said Mr. de la Durantaye.
“Distress”
Feeling of “distress” in several employees, fears of “reprisals” after having undergone problematic behaviors, discriminatory words and even exclusion of employees from visible minorities: the list of problems noted by the latitude firm is long.
“This context presents significant risks for the psychological health of the personnel as well as for the stability and organizational efficiency”, can be read in the report that we have consulted.
All sections of the report concerning the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr. Venne are however cavited.
The CGTSIM has been directed since 2022 by Sylvie Chagnon, a former investment vice-president of Quebec, which has also directed, in the past, the Green Fund Management Council. According to the investigation report, his arrival would coincide with the beginning of certain issues within the organization.
“As soon as she entered into office, she began the implementation of several changes. It is in this context that tensions, sometimes latent, sometimes more manifest, began to emerge within the workplace, “said the report, which does not blame it directly for the difficult working climate.
Invoice requested
An unusual fact, the CGTSIM was forced to provide the Ministry of Education with the bill of a crisis management expert which he had hired to answer our questions about his working climate.
According to our information, it was the cabinet of Minister Drainville who made it expressly requesting, intrigued to know why the organization had used a strategist in communications with public funds.
The communications box loaded nearly $ 1,000, for 5.75 hours of work at $ 150 \ hour.
“We used the services of the firm Aucoin strategy and communication only once, in March 2025, in exceptional circumstances unprecedented at the CGTSIM. This situation required rapid intervention, based on proven expertise in crisis management, ”justified the CGTSIM by email.
In another message, the committee said that it “welcomed” the guide appointed by the Minister. “The report reports well -known issues of management and which are common in the workplace, particularly in the context of change that we know. Any organizational change is the subject of close collaboration with the two unions representing our employees, ”said the CGTSIM.
The school tax management committee harvests and redistributes in the Montreal service centers and school boards more than $ 371M of taxes each year. The CGTSIM had not returned our messages when publishing these lines.
