Quebec man fined for helping defective pool owners seek compensation via Facebook

When Quebec City resident Philippe Vézina noticed the cedar planking around his eight-year-old pool was starting to rot, he contacted the manufacturer.

But Trévi, a Quebec pool company, merely offered a discount on replacement parts, and that wasn’t enough as far as Vézina was concerned. He joined a Facebook group with about 60 members, all complaining about the same problem.

“We started chatting about it and quickly realized the scale of the problem with Trévi,” he said.

Little did he know, he was about to embark on a journey of benevolence, helping other pool owners fight the company. But that journey landed him in hot water. He was fined $7,500 for illegally practising law.

The situation largely dates back to an October 2022 segment aired by Radio-Canada’s La facture television program. It highlighted a couple’s purchase of a $19,000 pool that deteriorated in just five years.

In the segment, Trévi president Benoît Hudon acknowledged the issue, saying, “the pools have premature wear, especially after 2012.”

The segment caused Vézina’s Facebook group, Ma piscine en cèdre est pourrie! (My cedar pool is rotten!), to grow significantly. He was the group’s administrator and became deeply involved, loving the volunteer work.

“Questions and emails poured in, I was overwhelmed, but I was thrilled to see what could come of it,” he said.

He spent countless hours helping the group’s members push Trévi to take responsibility and provide fair compensation for their pools.

Then, Vézina got a surprising call from Hudon, who invited him to a meeting. The meeting was productive, and Vézina signed a confidential agreement resolving his claim.

Hudon also proposed that Vézina sign a document committing to help other members reach fair settlements while limiting his role to being a proactive moderator facilitating communication.

“I was the voice of Trévi customers who’d had bad experiences with their pools, and that’s it,” Vézina said.

Vézina shared the agreement with the Facebook group and summarized the meeting. He had no idea that signing this document would mark the start of his legal troubles.

Just days later, the Quebec Bar Association, Barreau du Québec, received an anonymous complaint accusing Vézina of practising law without a licence. This triggered an investigation. Vézina’s Facebook group was infiltrated, and his activities scrutinized.

Trévi began issuing settlement offers to pool owners. Since Vézina knew the amounts of various offers, he encouraged some customers to seek better compensation.

“I could tell someone, ‘No, don’t accept that, it doesn’t make sense.’ Some were offered $600 for their pool. Come on! So I’d tell them, ‘Refuse it, ask for more, negotiate with them.’ But it wasn’t my job to negotiate. That was up to them,” he said.

In November 2022, following its investigation, the Bar concluded that Vézina had overstepped. He was ordered to immediately cease performing any acts reserved for lawyers. He was accused of acting as an intermediary for settling claims related to cedar pools, which constituted unauthorized legal practice.

Vézina brushed it off, believing he was simply facilitating communication between Trévi and the group members. As far as he was concerned, he never claimed to be a lawyer.

“To me, it’s clear that a lawyer is someone who gets paid to do research, file complaints and talk to judges. I wasn’t doing any of that. I was just helping,” he said.

He posted to the Facebook group, reiterating that he wasn’t a lawyer. But it’s not that simple, according to Sylvie Champagne, director of legal affairs at the Barreau du Québec.

“Practising law illegally isn’t just about claiming to be a lawyer. It’s much broader than that,” Champagne explained.

Even if someone explicitly states they aren’t a lawyer, giving legal advice still constitutes unauthorized practise, she said.

Claudia Bérubé, a lawyer and lecturer at the Université de Sherbrooke, said it’s acceptable to outline possible options for a legal issue without suggesting a specific course of action.

“If you say, ‘You could go to mediation, make another offer or go to small claims court,’ you’re just listing possible options. That’s legal information, which is permitted,” Bérubé said.

“But you can’t advise someone to take a specific legal action or use certain arguments to assert their rights — that’s legal advice.”

Ultimately, the Bar launched litigation against Vézina, and he was ordered to pay $7,500. Vézina claims he couldn’t defend himself because he never received the court summons. He later sought to have the judgment overturned, but his request was denied.

Trévi said the agreement Vézina signed was meant to formalize his role as a mediator, not authorize him to perform legal duties. Trévi itself received a warning from the regulatory body. 

“It’s a shame that this man, who volunteered his time and effort, got penalized for unauthorized legal practise,” said Bérubé. “We should celebrate this kind of civic initiative.”

But, she added, the next step in such cases would be to consult a lawyer who can represent the group in a class-action lawsuit.

Despite everything, Vézina remains committed to helping others.

“I still believe you can help people voluntarily without getting in trouble. You just have to follow the rules and be careful about what you say,” he said.

Trévi, meanwhile, claims to have resolved over 98 per cent of the issues with cedar pools, offering tailored solutions for each case.

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