Quebec village sends threatening legal notices to nearly one-tenth of its population

At least 97 people in Ste-Pétronille, Que. have received legal letters from the town, says François-Xavier Simard, a lawyer representing a group of residents. Many of them were signatories of a Dec. 11 petition asking the municipality to launch an investigation into the process that led to the hiring of town manager Nathalie Paquet.

The village of Ste-Pétronille, Que., is used to receiving attention from outsiders. Tourists flock to the hamlet at the tip of picturesque Orleans Island to see its French colonial architecture and enjoy views of the Quebec City skyline across the St. Lawrence River.

But since the hiring of its town manager, the allure of Ste-Pétronille has recently given way to intrigue. The resulting controversy has rocked the settlement of just over 1,000 residents and led the municipality to send threatening legal notices to almost one-tenth of residents — as well as the local newspaper — and issue a plea for the province to intervene.

"We would have preferred not to have to go there," Ste-Pétronille Mayor Jean Côté said of the legal notices in a Jan. 18 statement. "We had to act urgently to preserve the reputation of our employees and elected officials, and to ensure that we could do our jobs without fear of reprisal."

At least 97 people in Ste-Pétronille have received legal letters from the town, says François-Xavier Simard, a lawyer representing a group of residents. Many of them were signatories of a Dec. 11 petition asking the municipality to launch an investigation into the process that led to the hiring of town manager Nathalie Paquet.

Several residents of the town have questioned the circumstances under which Paquet left a previous post in the Quebec municipality of Val-des-Lacs, citing an alleged letter from that town's mayor that petitioners say they obtained through an access-to-information request.

The petition, viewed by The Canadian Press, asked whether Ste-Pétronille officials examined Paquet's job history and stated that the content of the letter from her former employer made her hiring "incomprehensible."

One resident, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals from the town, said the legal letter they received claimed that the information about Paquet acquired through the access-to-information request caused "irreparable damage" to her and the town.