Villeray–St-Michel–Parc-Ex mayor apologizes amid harassment allegations
Giuliana Fumagalli will chair borough council meeting next week
Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension Mayor Giuliana Fumagalli apologized to "anyone hurt by [my] comments," two weeks after she was asked to work from home amid harassment allegations.
Fumagalli, who is serving her first term as mayor, made the remarks at a city council meeting Monday.
"Citizens need to be reassured that the work has been done and continues to be done despite everything that is happening," she said.
Fumagalli has been absent from the borough hall since earlier this month when Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante was informed that a harassment complaint had been filed against Fumagalli by a staff member. Neither the staff member's identity nor their role has been disclosed.
"We take these allegations very seriously," Plante said earlier this month, adding that both Fumagalli and the person who accused her of harassment have agreed to go through the city's mediation process.
"I hope there's a good outcome, because we want things to work well in the borough," she said.
No official comment has been made about the status of that mediation process.
First-term mayor
Fumagalli, a member of Projet Montreal, was not suspended but was asked to work from her home rather than her office for the time being.
She is scheduled to chair the next borough council meeting on June 5.
She was first elected to office last year.
According to the party's website, Fumagalli is a former Canada Post worker as well as a union and community activist who has lived in the borough for more than 17 years.
The Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension council is composed of five elected representatives, including three from Projet Montréal: Fumagalli, Rosannie Filato and Sylvain Ouellet.
The other two councillors, Mary Deros and Frantz Benjamin, are from the official opposition party, Ensemble Montréal.