Following the controversy created by Ste. Anne de Bellevue’s refusal to make a $1,374 donation to the West Island Association for the Intellectually Handicapped (WIAIH) last month, the municipal council has decided to review its donation policy Mayor Francis Deroo said last Monday.
At the council meeting last month, resident Philippe Vaugeois had scolded the council over the city’s committee for community development’s refusal to grant WIAIH money because its application did not fit within the committee’s donation policy.
Vaugeois did not understand why the city wouldn’t contribute to WIAIH’s effort while the committee was awarding sums of money to a resident who was involved in Irish dancing for example.
The committee’s policy states amongst other things that a requesting organization must have a headquarters in the city and at least 20 per cent of board members must be residents. Questioned as to what was going in that affair last Monday, Deroo said the city decided to reread and review its policy to determine if changes are to be made.
“We asked our people to highlight what has been done in terms of donations in previous years and we will look at that. We have a policy that is currently in place but at the last council meeting, people complained, so we will take a look and make a decision if we change the policy or not. We'll see if we want to keep the same policy or adjust it,” said Deroo.
“I think it is our role to review it. No one else made representations on that matter but we had questions from a citizen. I think it is okay to review a policy when you have people who speak up like that. A policy may be revised periodically. It's been a little over two years since it’s in place and there are people who challenge so it is our duty to reread and adjust it if we think we're reached that point.”
Deroo added the council may or may not provide an update at the next council meeting on April 8. Ste. Anne de Bellevue has not contributed to WIAIH since 2009 and is the only West Island municipality not to contribute to the organization in 2013.
