Photo: Jacques Nadeau Le Devoir
The board of the Museum of fine arts of Montreal has rejected the request for the convening of a special meeting of the members of the Museum, claimed by petition.
The board of the Museum of fine arts of Montreal (MBAM) has rejected the request for the convening of a special meeting of the members of the Museum, claimed by petition last July 28.
The members of the MMFA have countered that the board was under obligation to keep such an assembly.
This last would have been the end to propose the revocation of the mandate of 11 directors, following the dismissal of the controversial ex-director general of the museum, Nathalie Bondil.
In a letter sent to members of the MMFA on August 3, the board argues, however, that, after analysis, in the company of legal counsel, the petition originally signed by 105 members had been deemed ” inadmissible “.
“The process of election of the directors of the Museum is framed accurately and does not allow the presentation of candidatures and the election of directors at a special meeting of the members, he writes. Thus, the board of directors may not grant your request to hold a special meeting of members to put an end to the mandate of certain directors, and to elect others in their place and stead. “
In their response dated August 4, in care of the chairman of the board, Michel de la Chenelière, the members of the Museum refutes these explanations. Relying in particular on article 72 of the Regulation on the general administration of the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, they remind us that” a special meeting of the members of the Corporation may be called at the request of the chairman of the board of directors or on written request of 100 members “— and that, according to the second paragraph, the request ” must specify the issues that will be submitted to the members for consideration at this special meeting. Only the subjects referred to in the notice convening the meeting may be submitted and processed during this assembly “.
“Thus, this regulation does not limit in any way the subjects on which the special meeting may bring, they write. They also add that ” the implementing regulation provides that the members of the board of directors are elected by the members of the Museum during the general assembly. It is settled law that the power to appoint includes power to dismiss “.
The list
In his letter of 3 August, the CA argues that some of the 105 signers of the petition had not seized exact purpose, namely to remove and replace 11 of the 12 directors elected by the general assembly. He said that these people would then have asked that their names be removed from the list.
To this end, the members respond that only ” three signatories fall into this category “. They certify also that these names have been removed and that the persons concerned have been informed.
Members also note that, despite these rétractations, the number of signatories calling for the holding of a special assembly always remains higher than the 100 required. “And the list is growing by the day,” they say.
They argue that “members of the board of directors would have tried to reach the members of the Museum in order to convince them to withdraw their support” at the request of holding a special meeting.
Recall that an independent investigation was commissioned by the minister of Culture and Communications, Nathalie Roy, ” to examine the management and oversight of the conduct of the business of the MMFA by the management team and the board of directors “.
Nevertheless, the members do not want to stay there with the CA. They are demanding explanations. “Mr. de la Chenelière, they ask in their letter, why not agree to a special meeting of the members of the Museum, what have you to hide ? “
The Museum of fine arts of Montreal did not wish to make further comments. The members of the Museum have also preferred not to comment beyond the letter.
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