Jacques Séguin, an elected official and member of the fire department of the Municipality of Sainte-Justine de Newton, has been suspended from his duties on the municipal council for 30 days.

Last July, a citizen alleged that Mr. Séguin had used his status as a volunteer firefighter to take some 8,000 gallons of drinking water without permission.

In April 2023, Mr. Séguin allegedly authorized a company to use the municipality's drinking water reservoir to unblock a pipe on a farm belonging to his children. 

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In his report submitted to the Commission municipale du Québec on November 6, Judge Thierry Usclat stated that: "The elected official in question gave access to the water tank in question using the keys entrusted to him by the Municipality in the course of his duties as a volunteer firefighter for the Municipality... At no time did the elected official in question request permission from any representative of the Municipality of Saint-Polycarpe to access the reservoir and use the water it contains. The elected official acted without right and on his own initiative".

According to the magistrate: "The conduct of the elected official in question is serious, in that it constitutes an appropriation without right of the property of the Municipality on the part of a member of the council. The elected official in question has also benefited free of charge from an asset otherwise payable by citizens".

Jacques Séguin has been suspended from all his duties as Sainte-Justine-de-Newton municipal councillor, without remuneration, allowance or any other sum he may receive from the Municipality.