Shame in Shawinigan

And not just to the general manager, Brian Biro, but to the board, the city and Mayor Michel Angers.

According to information received Tuesday morning, CA members have learned in recent weeks of the disastrous financial situation in which Culture Shawinigan finds itself. Last June, members of the Board of Directors received information indicating that the organization’s deficit amounted to $143,000.

This is not the case.

At the end of September, they learned the amount was closer to $780,000. I’m not very good at calculations, but between $142,342 and $780,000 specifically, there’s a good difference.

On September 27, the Board of Directors took the decision to suspend the signing of new contracts or projects for the coming months.

Remember, the funder of Shawinigan culture is, of course, the City of Shawinigan. So we have two possibilities: either the city was aware of the financial abyss into which the Shawinigan culture had plunged, or we hid the numbers so as not to lose face.

Did Michel Angers know the real numbers? There is the question. If Mr. Angers was aware of the $780,000 shortfall, what questions or actions did he take to correct the situation?

Obviously, not much.

Without the documents obtained by Sebastian Holly, when would the population have been made aware of the organization’s parlous financial situation? Maybe never.

We deliberately hid the truth. How many people did they know? It’s hard to answer that. It’s a mystery. But people clearly knew. I remind you that we are talking about public money.

Let us continue the chronology of events.

When the Chairman of the Board of Directors wanted to speak to the City Director General, in order to find out more, Mayor Michel Angers allegedly asked certain questions, telling him that speaking to him was equivalent to speaking to his General Director. Why, Mr. Angers, did you not want the Chairman of the Board of Directors to ask questions to the General Manager?

Were you afraid of the answers he might give?

Did we want to make sure that everything stays internal and that no one talks or reveals anything?

I ask questions. I would like answers. And the population too. If bad media had to publish such information, it wouldn’t be good for the city, right?

The following is also interesting.

As reported by Sebastian Holly, on October 3, the CA president was informed that a meeting would be held between Mayor Michel Angers and Brian Perrault and that the city would pay $390,000 to Shawinigan Culture.

I remember the facts. Shawinigan Culture already has a $780,000 deficit and we still want to send additional money, taxpayer money? There is nothing too beautiful.

From the moment the CA was informed of the disastrous situation of the Shawinigan culture and the knowledge of the friendship between Michel Angers and Brian Perrault, there was not supposed to be a meeting between the two men, without the presence of CA members and people from the city.

Shawinigan’s culture is sinking deeper and deeper and at no point has the mayor stepped in to stop the bleeding. What did Mr. Perot do to correct the situation? Mystery again.

It’s worrying.

At the meeting held on October 17 between Mr. Perrault, city members and two CA members, the latter allegedly declared that it was Michel Angers’ fault. Mr. Perot would have mentioned that it was the mayor who gave him the mandates, and that even if he told him he was going to the fiscal abyss, the motto was to keep going.

We intended to end up with a deficit of how much? Million, 1.5, 2 million? Who says it’s better? I don’t know about you, but this story stinks.

The silence of all speakers speaks volumes.

By the way, dear members of the Board of Directors, you have a role to play in such a situation. It was appropriate for the CA President to make a media appearance. Being a board member isn’t just about looking good on a CV, it’s an important responsibility, especially when we’re talking about public money.

And dear board members, you are asking for Chairman Brian Pirro. After four days, where are we? Is he still in office? Have you judged her condition? Are you people of words and deeds or are you from the category of green plants? You may also have to answer questions.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to calm things down, the City of Shawinigan is holding a nice press conference on Tuesday afternoon, to try to lull us to sleep.

Rest assured, dear citizens of Shawinigan, a professional firm will analyze the governance and finances of the Shawinigan culture. We made this announcement on the same day the file was made public. Pure coincidence, of course. It’s called window dressing.

Great comedy.

If the City of Shawinigan wanted to convince me that it was serious about wanting to shed light on the organization’s finances, it would have done so a long time ago.

Mr. Angers, another question for you. Knowing since the beginning of October the disastrous situation in which Shawinigan Culture finds itself, why did you provide an additional $390,000 to the General Director of Shawinigan Culture? Don’t you think the deficit is big enough?

I do not believe a word when we are told that the Shawinigan Cultural Organization is completely independent of the city, controls its own decisions and funds, and that politics has never interfered in the matter.

It is impossible for me to believe that, especially since in summaries of meetings between Mr. Perot, board members and the city, he allegedly asserted that mandates come from the mayor, and therefore from politics.

There’s greatness in the bullshit there. Is someone lying or is someone not telling us the whole truth? As the famous saying goes: Some facts are good to avoid, right?

Be careful, dear elected officials.

The truth always comes out, even when we try to hide it.