Montreal Ethics Hotline Is Up And Running

From CTV:

Montreal's new ethics hotline is now up and running, two months after city council adopted a new code of ethics.

The number is 1-866-232-8803.

The hotline came about following a series of scandals that embroiled city hall this year, several of which have led to police investigations.

Montreal's auditor-general, Jacques Bergeron, has launched measures to report on abuse and fraud.

Read more ....

My Comment: Bookmark this link .... you may one day need to use it.

Quebec Liberal Donors Get Lion's Share Of Contracts

From The Globe And Mail:

The lion's share of construction contracts awarded without public tenders since last April by the Ministry of Transportation have gone to donors of the Quebec Liberal Party, according to figures compiled by the Action Démocratique du Québec party.

The ADQ also found that most of the contracts awarded without public tenders during the first six months of 2009, which were worth $240-million, violated government regulations and procedures.

Read more ....

Update #1: Donors to Liberals do just fine -- Montreal Gazette
Update #2: Liberal donors winning untendered contracts: ADQ -- CBC

My Comment: No one is saying it yet .... but can someone spell "corruption".

Daycare Licences Tied To Donations: PQ

Photo: Quebec Family Minister Tony Tomassi denies the awarding of daycare licenses was tied to political donations. (CBC)

From The CBC:

Quebec's iconic $7-a-day child-care program has become the subject of a pay-for-play controversy.

The well-known social program has been used to help fill the coffers of the province's governing Liberals, the Parti Québécois charged Tuesday.

The Opposition party said it began examining who'd received contracts to open daycare centres and was startled by the preponderance of donors to the Quebec Liberal party.

Read more ....

Update: Daycare policy a scam: PQ -- Montreal Gazette

My Comment: Maybe PQ members are not the entrepreneur types?

Police Raid Boisbriand City Hall In Corruption Probe

Officers, armed with three search warrants, raided Boisbriand town hall. (Courtesy: LCN).

From CTV News:

Operation hammer, the Quebec police probe that's looking into possible construction corruption, raided a town hall north of Montreal on Tuesday morning.

Officers, armed with three search warrants, confiscated documents at the municipal headquarters in Boisbriand.

No one was arrested and police remain tight-lipped about what, if anything, they seized.

Read more ....

Update #1: Quebec police mount corruption raids -- CBC
Update #2: Operation Hammer conducts searches in Boisbriand -- Montreal Gazette

My Comment: This is probably going to be the first of many police raids in the next few months.

Liberals And PQ Try To Tie The Other In Montreal's Growing Corruption Scandal

Liberals, PQ Trade Barbs Over Accurso -- Montreal Gazette

Accuse one another of ties: Rumours swirl around construction heavyweight, but he faces no charges.

The opposition Parti Québécois and ruling Liberals traded accusations during question period yesterday of having ties to Tony Accurso.

Accurso, president of Simard-Beaudry Construction Inc., is at the centre of corruption allegations, though he and his companies have never been charged.

Read more ....

My Comment: Both sides probably know the man quite well. Accurso runs a large construction company, and he is involved in politics. Has he committed a crime .... so far he has not been charged.

PQ To File No-Confidence Motion Over Corruption

From CBC:

Quebec engineers also demand public inquiry into alleged construction collusion.

The Parti Québécois says it will table a no-confidence motion against the governing Liberals to force a public inquiry into Quebec's construction industry.

Officials with the PQ told CBC News on Tuesday that the party will table its motion this week.

Read more ....

My Comment: This non-confidence motion will be defeated, but it does put more spotlight on what is clearly a problem in Quebec's construction industry. The governing Liberals will have to respond.

Corruption Hotline Already Getting Tips, SQ Says

Quebec Public Security Minister Jacques Dupuis (left) with Director General of the Sûreté du Québec Richard Deschesnes, announces the creation of a special squad, called Opération Marteau, to look into allegations of corruption and collusion in the construction industry in Montreal. Photograph by: Pierre Obendrauf, The Gazette

From The Montreal Gazette:

Despite being in use for less than a day the Sûreté du Québec is already getting calls on a phone line set up to receive tips on suspected criminal activity in Quebec’s construction industry.

Inspector Michel Forget, the head of a newly formed squad mandated specifically to investigate illegal activities within the construction industry like collusion and money laundering, said Friday the line (1-888-444-1701) is already receiving tips.

Read more ....

My Comment: Give it a few more weeks, I predict that the SQ's hot line's answering machine will be full.

Montreal City Hall And The Stench Of Corruption

Benoit Labonte addresses the media at a press conference on Saturday, October 17, 2009.

Montreal City Hall Run By Mafia-Like System: Ex-Opposition Leader -- CBC

Montreal's former opposition leader says the city's political system is run by a Mafia-like system — and his opponents know it.

On the weekend, Benoît Labonté was forced to resign from his party and drop out of the campaign for the city’s Nov. 1 election over allegations he met with, and accepted donations from, a controversial construction entrepreneur.

Labonté initially denied the allegations.

Now, in an interview with Radio-Canada, Labonté has admitted he lied.

Read more ....

More News On Corruption At Montreal City Hall

Harel, Lampron push Charest for corruption probe -- Montreal Gazette
Calls for inquiry into Montreal corruption allegations -- CTV
Mayor dismisses Labonté charges -- Montreal Gazette
Tremblay, Harel deny Labonté allegations -- CBC
Labonté admits he accepted cash from Accurso -- Montreal Gazette
Montreal tycoon sues Radio-Canada, denies political links -- CBC
Charest names ministers accused of yacht cruising with Accurso -- Globe And Mail

My Comment: Benoit Labonte is clearly peeved that he has been kicked out of his own political party. He is now spilling the beans, and even if 25% of what he says is true, corruption in our political process runs very deep on both the municipal and provincial level.

Liberal Cronies Use Regional Funding For Own Firms: PQ

From The Montreal Gazette:

Ethics attacked; Saguenay-Lac St. Jean cash ended up in Montreal companies.

Pietro Perrino and Valier Boivin, who sit on the board of a regional investment fund created by the government to boost local companies in the Saguenay-Lac St. Jean region, invested taxpayers' money instead in Montreal-area companies in which they hold shares, the Parti Québécois charged yesterday.

François Legault, the PQ finance critic, said Premier Jean Charest knows Perrino well. Perrino was an organizer for both the Quebec and federal Liberals.

Read more ....