{"id":16960,"date":"2016-01-13T07:22:43","date_gmt":"2016-01-13T12:22:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/?p=16960"},"modified":"2016-02-14T23:24:13","modified_gmt":"2016-02-15T04:24:13","slug":"independent-coupal-questions-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/independent-coupal-questions-spending\/","title":{"rendered":"Independent Coupal Questions Spending"},"content":{"rendered":"

Newly independent councillor Jean Coupal plans to ask about wasteful spending at every city council meeting until the next election. Last night was no exception.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about the mayor and the administration, it\u2019s more about the city administration,\u201d he said. \u201cThe mayor doesn\u2019t challenge whether city employees have real needs when they propose projects. He just gives them what they want.\u201d<\/p>\n

This tendency led to Laval\u2019s 2016 budget being too high, says Coupal, who was elected with Movement Lavoillois to represent District 12 Souvenir-Labelle in November 2013 and has been a member since 2011.<\/p>\n

By leaving Demer\u2019s party prior to the end of 2015, he gets access to a $27,000 research budget for councillors that would have otherwise gone to the party. He plans to use these funds to hire students to compare Laval to other cities.<\/p>\n

\u201cCities on the North Shore didn\u2019t increase taxes at all,\u201d he said. \u201cIn Mirabel, there was no tax increase for three years. It makes no sense. Last year, two big amounts decreased. Law 15 dropped the retirement regime and Laval saved $12.3 million and the interest rates went down and Laval saved $8 million. We don\u2019t control that, but instead of giving these amounts back to citizens, they just spent it all. In my district, I have a lot of seniors and the Government of Canada increased their pension by only 1.2% and we\u2019ve increased taxes by 1.9% so these seniors are going to have cut somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coupal says that Laval should reduce expenses by eliminating automatic budget increases for manager salaries, limiting police overtime and forcing bureaucrats to release clear limited tenders.<\/p>\n

As an IT specialist for 25 years, he was particularly shocked by a $300,000 information technology (IT) contract approved last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know exactly the work that needs to be done because I\u2019ve done it myself,\u201d he said. \u201cThe guy who is doing the work is getting $55 an hour and the rest of the money is going to the United States\u2026The criteria was so complicated that there was only one company who could get that job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coupal has been concerned about city spending since long before he got elected. In 2009, he was featured in a Suburban story about the distribution of Vivre en Laval in English. (See: http:\/\/edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk\/launch.aspx?eid=de522198-92c0-4a09-9908-8ba6bcfb4b37&pnum=88&from=search&terms=Jean%20Coupal&searchPage=1<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I remember that,\u201d he said. \u201cI was saying that I don\u2019t need two copies because I\u2019m receiving one in French and another in English. Everyone in Chomeday got one automatically, but someone in St. Francois couldn\u2019t get one. Now, everyone who wants an English version can get it regardless of where they live. I\u2019ll have to ask how many have been distributed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coupal says he\u2019s been asking pointed questions about spending behind closed doors since prior to his election. As an independent councillor, now he\u2019ll ask them in public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Newly independent councillor Jean Coupal plans to ask about wasteful spending at every city council meeting until the next election. Last night was no exception. \u201cIt\u2019s not about the mayor and the administration, it\u2019s more about the city administration,\u201d he said. \u201cThe mayor doesn\u2019t challenge whether city employees have real needs when they propose projects. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Independent Coupal Questions Spending","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hundredmilecircle","post-wrapper","thrv_wrapper"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2buQs-4py","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1270,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/laval-city-council-in-turmoil\/","url_meta":{"origin":16960,"position":0},"title":"Laval City Council in Turmoil","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"November 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The goings on in Laval City Council have been hard to follow. The Latest: A\u00a0race to become mayor will happen after all. The Gazette and the CBC\u00a0has reported that Alexandre Duplessis and Jacques St-Jean will compete for mayor. To read the story, refer to http:\/\/www.montrealgazette.com\/news\/Next+mayor+Laval+city+councillors+headtohead\/7583814\/story.html The former party offices are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics That Matter"","block_context":{"text":"Politics That Matter","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/cultural-identity\/politics-that-matter\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16404,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/laval-refuses-anthian-expenses\/","url_meta":{"origin":16960,"position":1},"title":"Laval bureaucrats refuse Anthian expenses","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"March 25, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Laval-des-rapides councillor Pierre Anthian had another meeting with legal department manager Patrice F. Guay recently. Guay and Sylvain\u00a0Gouin, who became Laval\u2019s financial services manager and city municipal treasurer in January, had bad news. Laval will not pay $12,000 of $14,000 Anthian claimed in research and support expenses since he became\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Island Report"","block_context":{"text":"Island Report","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/island-report\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16962,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/trottier-reserves-name-for-new-party\/","url_meta":{"origin":16960,"position":2},"title":"Trottier reserves name for new party","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"January 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Independent Laval councillors Michel Trottier and Pierre Anthian are cooperating to create a new political party in time for the next elections in November 2017. \u201cIf we do nothing, we\u2019re going to arrive in 2017 with only one party as we were at the time of Vaillancourt,\u201d said Trottier. \u201cI\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hundred Mile Circle"","block_context":{"text":"Hundred Mile Circle","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/hundredmilecircle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16957,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/courts-force-laval-to-pay-anthian\/","url_meta":{"origin":16960,"position":3},"title":"Courts force Laval to pay Anthian","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"March 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Laval paid $3,334.61 to Laval-des-Rapides councillor Pierre Anthian on January 22. The figure covered reimbursements for research expenses costs originally denied by the city and reported on in the Suburban last April. This is a great relief after a year of sacrifices for my family and wrestling with the City,\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hundred Mile Circle"","block_context":{"text":"Hundred Mile Circle","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/hundredmilecircle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15818,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/laval_50th_anniversary\/","url_meta":{"origin":16960,"position":4},"title":"Laval urges citizens to participate in 50th anniversary","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"June 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Councillors have set up a million dollar contest for citizens who want to get involved in the City of Laval\u2019s fiftieth anniversary on August 6, 2015. La Corporation des c\u00e9l\u00e9brations 2015 Created The funds are included in the $1,875,000 that councillors assigned to La Corporation des c\u00e9l\u00e9brations 2015 during their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hundred Mile Circle"","block_context":{"text":"Hundred Mile Circle","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/hundredmilecircle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16177,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/intelligent-parking\/","url_meta":{"origin":16960,"position":5},"title":"Laval needs intelligent parking says Anthian","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"February 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Laval independent city councillor Pierre Anthian plans to hold a public consultation about intelligent parking on Tuesday, February 24 at 7 p.m. It will take place at the Ch\u00e2teau Royal, 3500, boulevard du Souvenir, right next to City Hall. 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