In a ruling dated June 15th, 2023, the Superior Court, presided over by the Honourable Justice Sylvain Lussier, upheld in part an appeal on grounds of nullity concerning a resolution by the Council of the MRC de Vaudreuil-Soulanges relating to the redistribution of overpayments from the Sûreté du Québec. It should be noted that the Towns of Pincourt and Saint-Zotique also joined the action as co-plaintiffs.

In this case, the City challenged a decision made by the council of mayors of the MRC to replace the redistribution method used for overpayments to the Ministère de la Sécurité publique for services rendered by the Sûreté du Québec, which had been in effect since 2006.

According to the City, the new formula adopted in 2021 was unlawful in part because it applied retroactively to the 2020 budgets of municipalities who are members of the MRC.

Passed by a double majority, the resolution took effect immediately, despite protests from the mayor of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Guy Pilon, and the former mayor of Pincourt, Yvan Cardinal.

Justice Lussier agreed with the City of Vaudreuil-Dorion and invalidated the section of the resolution which provided for the application of the new formula on the refunds due for the year 2020. He justified his decision by stating that an MRC does not have the power to adopt resolutions that carry a retroactive impact.

The new formula created a shortfall of just over $1.7 million for the City of Vaudreuil-Dorion for the 2020 fiscal year, even though the financial year had ended at the time the facts occurred.

In addition to the Cities already mentioned, the Municipalities of Les Coteaux, Pointe-des-Cascades and Vaudreuil-sur-le-Lac are positively affected by the ruling that was taken.

The parties have 30 days to appeal the judgment.