Montreal's inspector-general will not conduct his own investigation into the police spying scandal.
The mayor had originally asked Denis Gallant to investigate police investigations of journalists, but then rescinded the request.
Last week, public security minister Martin Coiteux announced that a province-wide public inquiry would be held after reports that the Montreal police force, and the Sureté du Quebec, had obtained warrants to monitor the conversations of several journalists, including those of La Presse columnist and CJAD 800 commentator Patrick Lagacé.
Projet Montreal councillor Alex Norris says the announcement that his inspector-general would conduct an investigation should never have been made in the first place.
"It's quite clear that the law did not provide for such an appointment," Norris says. "It's just another example of improvisation on the part of mayor Coderre."
Norris pointed to other examples of the mayor's supposed improvisation, such as his attempts to ban caleches and pit bulls, and his idea of allowing bars to stay open until 6 a.m. — all ideas, he says, which were quashed by the courts.
"In this case, it appears that it was the minister of public security who informed Mr. Coderre that he couldn't legally do what he had announced he was going to do with the inspector general."