More than a hundred members of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) are calling for a special meeting to dismiss half of the members of the board of directors, in the wake of the saga that cost him his post. the former general manager Nathalie Bondil.
Photo QMI Agency, Joël Lemay
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The Journal learned that on Tuesday evening they sent a letter to the Museum’s board of directors, in which they notably demanded the head of the chairman of the board, Michel de la Chenelière, and ten of his colleagues.
105 signatories
The letter, signed by exactly 105 members, invokes an article of the MMFA’s bylaw which stipulates that a special assembly must be called if 100 members submit a written request to do so.
The applicants seek the revocation of the mandates of Michel de la Chenelière, Roger Fournelle, Jean Houle, Serge Joyal, René Malo, Jonathan Deitcher, Sylvie Demers, Marcel Elefant, Jessica Pathy, Jacques Parisien and Rémi Quirion.
This request must be submitted to the vote of the members present at the extraordinary assembly and must possibly obtain a majority of votes to be ratified.
The request for an extraordinary meeting comes two weeks after Michel de la Chenelière announced the dismissal of Nathalie Bondil. The Chairman of the Board referred to the “toxic” work climate at the Museum and the director’s refusal to want to correct the situation.
Conflict over an appointment
But according to what several media reported, including Le Journal, the dismissal is rather due to a conflict between Michel de la Chenelière and Nathalie Bondil, because the latter refused to support the appointment of Marie-Dailey Desmarais as director of the conversation.
On July 13, our Bureau of Investigation also revealed that Nathalie Bondil had been told in June that her contract would be renewed.
Marie-Dailey Desmarais is the wife of Paul Desmarais III, heir to the powerful business family that built Power Corp.
According to the signatories of the letter sent on Tuesday evening, only the director general of the museum (therefore Nathalie Bondil) can ratify the appointment and dismissal of the museum’s senior executives.
“It seems clear to us that the Board of Directors exceeded its prerogatives by not respecting the regulations on the general administration of the Museum”, they write.
According to Museum regulations, the special meeting must take place at least 30 days after all members have been notified. The MMFA has more than 108,000 members.
The MMFA’s annual general meeting would normally take place in September.
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