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Guillaume Lavoie, the finance critic for opposition Projet Montréal, said the hiring shows a lack of transparency, and he questioned why Dorais has to be paid such a high salary.

“We need to do things in the right order,” Lavoie said. “First, (Coderre) should have described the challenges that the city was facing, and then explain why he needs outside council.

Lavoie said the appointment shows that Coderre does not have confidence in the thousands of employees currently working for the city.

We have thousands of very qualified employees at city hall. The idea that not one of them could do the job is ridiculous

“We have thousands of very qualified employees at city hall. The idea that not one of them could do the job is ridiculous,” Lavoie said.

“While no one can question the expertise of Mr. Dorais, it’s very hard to tell the public that there was no one who could have done the job.”

Dorais has been hired for three months of work, heading up the efforts to bring in Syrian refugees to the city. Thousands are expected to begin coming to the city starting in the next few weeks.

They’ll need access to clothing, health care and lodging, as well as schooling for children. Catherine Maurice, a spokesperson for Coderre, said in the next three months the work to welcome the refugees will be intense.

She said Dorais has extensive expertise working with refugees and is the best person for the job.

“He acted to welcome hundreds of Kosovar refugees when he was deputy minister; we could not have found someone with better expertise,” Maurice said.