The Montreal Gazette reports that the Quebec government has taken direct control over the city of Laval, Quebec’s third-largest municipality, in the wake of an ongoing and escalating procurement scandal in the province involving the construction industry and municipal government procurement:
The measure was imposed after the latest in a string of corruption allegations levelled against the city administration in the suburb north of Montreal.
Laval’s former mayor is accused of running city hall like a criminal racket and he now faces gangsterism charges, after having resigned in scandal.
Now, the new interim mayor is alleged to have also taken part in illegal party financing. Alexandre Duplessis has denied that allegation, levelled last week in testimony at the Charbonneau inquiry.
However, Duplessis requested trusteeship for the city after the provincial government had already publicly raised it as a possible solution.
Municipal Affairs Minister Sylvain Gaudreault told a news conference in Quebec City that the trusteeship was in the best interests of the city.
“The decision follows a series of exceptional events that have marked the administration of the City of Laval and also seriously weakened the confidence of the citizens of Laval with regard to their local government,” he said Monday.
The story notes that for an indefinite period, a provincially appointed three-member panel will be responsible for approving all city council decisions and budgets and that these trustees will also have final say over hiring and firing staff.
