Pointe Claire mayor seeks explanations from Montreal media

Pointe Claire is demanding a retraction and explanations from various Montreal media that ran what the city qualified as "erroneous reports" of Mayor Bill McMurchie's expenses.

"Pointe Claire councillors and I have a duty to spend public funds seriously," McMurchie stated. "The original media coverage relating to my expenses was inaccurate and many of the news stories were misleading in the extreme," he added.

A story ran in Montreal French daily La Presse on July 15. It did not focus solely on Pointe Claire, rather reporting on the expense habits of several demerged municipality mayors on the island. According to McMurchie, the story implied he charged up to $23,600 for meals to his municipal expense account in 2007, and this lead was taken up by several other media afterward.

When contacted by The Chronicle, McMurchie confirmed letters by city lawyers that ask for a retraction of his expense accounts have so far been received by La Presse and The Gazette.

Other media that ran the story include CTV and CJAD.

"We will not allow Pointe Claire's excellent reputation to be maligned by inaccurate reporting," he said.