Members want museum’s trustees to be replaced

At least 100 members of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) are asking for several people on the institution’s board of trustees to be replaced.

In the latest development of the controversy surrounding fired museum director Nathalie Bondil, the members sent an official letter to the museum on Tuesday requesting a special assembly. According to Le Devoir, the letter calls for the replacement of 11 people on the museum’s board, including chairperson Michel de la Chenelière.

The other board members named in the letter, viewed by Le Devoir, include vice-president Roger Fournelle, Jean Houle, Serge Joyal, René Malo, Jonathan Deitcher, Sylvie Demers, Marcel Elefant, Jessica Pathy, Jacques Parisien and Rémi Quirion.

The letter states that according to museum regulations, a special assembly can be called with the written request of 100 members.

The letter further asks the agenda of the meeting consist solely of a debate on ending the mandates of the 11 board members. Securing their departures would require a majority vote at the meeting.

“The museum and its board of directors do not wish to comment on this topic,” said a spokesperson for the MMFA, reached Wednesday. The museum also declined to forward a copy of the letter.

The MMFA has been in turmoil since it announced the firing of director and chief curator Bondil on July 13. Bondil had been at the museum since 1999, and became its first female director in 2007, obtaining international renown and raising the profile of and attendance at the museum. Bondil has been named to the Order of Canada and the order of Quebec.

The board’s primary reason for firing her was “a toxic work environment,” said de la Chenelière.