This section keeps you up-to-date on the latest news and upcoming public appearances of Lavery professionals.
News
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Pier-Olivier Fradette offers training sessions to the members of the Association des directeurs municipaux du Québec
Pier-Olivier Fradette, municipal affairs lawyer at Lavery, recently delivered two training sessions (in French) in Lac-Etchemin on behalf of the Association des directeurs municipaux du Québec (ADMQ). The first training session, titled “Volunteer groups operating under the umbrella of the municipality: what are the ground rules?,” dealt with the municipal by-laws and issues to consider before creating an organization along with the legal implications. The second training session, “The ABCs of ministerial authorizations and approval related to municipal finance,” explained the procedures related to the approval of borrowing by-laws, the authorization of credit commitments and the authorization of surety bonds. In the first training session, participants learned about the various municipal by-laws applicable to organizations depending on their legal status and the granting of financial support or assistance to those organizations. In the second training session, participants learned about best practices pertaining to borrowing, the various options for municipal taxation, and cases where it is not necessary to obtain ministerial approval or authorization to borrow. The two training sessions were offered to the CEOs of municipalities and will be presented again on November 22, 2016, in Trois-Rivières.
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Pier-Olivier Fradette signs an article in the January edition of BâtiVert magazine
Pier-Olivier Fradette, a lawyer whose practice focuses on municipal law, land use planning, and municipal contract management, has published an article in the January 2016 quarterly issue of BâtiVert, a magazine that covers recent jurisprudence, distributed by the Corporation des officiers municipaux en bâtiment et environnement du Québec (COMBEQ). The article entitled “The protection of municipal executive again put to the test… and again confirmed” (“La protection des cadres des municipalités testée de nouveau… et confirmée de nouveau”) analyses the decisions of the Commission des relations de travail (first instance) and the Superior Court (judicial review) in Jean-François Fournier v. Municipalité de Lac-des-Plages. Mr. Fradette explains the heavy burden a municipality carries when attempting to terminate an executive and that such a thing cannot be done without sound and meritorious reason even if a notice of termination clause was included and accepted in a work contract. The full article will be soon available on the COMBEQ website (French only)
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Pier-Olivier Fradette of Lavery to give COMBEQ training session in partnership with the MMQ
Throughout 2016, Pier-Olivier Fradette, a lawyer whose practice focuses on municipal law, land use planning, and municipal contract management, will be giving a COMBEQ (Corporation des officiers municipaux en bâtiment et en environnement du Québec) and MMQ (Mutuelle des Municipalités du Québec) training session in several Quebec cities. The session, which is entitled “Permit, certificate or attestation issuance: an inventory of rules to be followed” (“Émission des permis, certificats ou attestations : inventaire des règles a` respecter”) will allow participants to broaden their knowledge regarding the latest changes in legislative and jurisprudential orientation in this field. This training is accredited to contribute to obtain the title of municipal officer in building and environment. For more information or to register for the session, please click here (link to French-only registration page).
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Pier-Olivier Fradette speaks on the contractual freedom of municipalities
On November 16, 2015, at Lavery’s Quebec City office, Pier-Olivier Fradette, a municipal law associate, gave a conference entitled “La liberté contractuelle des municipalités” (Contractual freedom of municipalities). Presented to Lavery clients from the municipal sector, this conference was designed to expose simple mistakes frequently made when drafting municipal contracts, which ultimately cause interpretation issues or lead to legal actions before the courts. Tools were given to municipal writers to help them avoid these mistakes and therefore diminish the risks of legal disputes in their municipalities.