Gilles Vaillancourt corruption case leaves Laval residents with bitter taste
Residents weigh-in after former mayor's guilty plea to corruption charges
Former Laval mayor Gilles Vaillancourt's guilty plea to fraud, breach of trust and conspiracy to commit fraud is forcing residents to confront a legacy of corruption in Quebec's third-largest city.
The agreement reached between the Crown and defence would see Vaillancourt, who ran the city for more than two decades, sentenced to six years in prison. He has also agreed to pay back $8 million to the city.
The prison sentence must be approved by a judge.
Despite the guilty plea, however, many residents say they are left with a bitter taste.
"I find he had a very good deal," resident Denis Thivierge said of the plea bargain.
Thivierge said he's confident corruption in the city will be tackled under Laval's current mayor, Marc Demers.
Vaillancourt was arrested in March 2013 along with 36 others as part of a sweep by the province's anti-corruption unit, known as UPAC. Thirty-three of Vaillancourt's co-accused are still slated to stand trial.
As part of the agreement, Vaillancourt has admitted that he knew about a system of corruption and collusion within his administration at Laval city hall.
I think brighter lights have been turned on in Laval.- Gordon Berry, Laval resident
The police investigation, which was dubbed Project Honor, looked into a system of corruption related to the awarding of public contracts by the City of Laval between 1996 and 2010.
'We were lied to'
Gordon Berry, who has lived in Laval almost two decades, said there were rumours about mismanagement of city funds but that, in a case, like this, "hindsight is always 20/20."
"There was always a bit of mumbling and rumbling and things that seemed a bit odd at the time," he told CBC's Homerun.
Though the former mayor has apologized, Berry isn't convinced that the people's faith in municipal officials will return.
"It's always sad when you're laying faith in your elected officials and you get screwed," he said.
"We were lied to. We got cheated out of a lot of money that should have gone into the everyday lives of people in Laval."
He hopes that the events will bolster people to take more of an interest in municipal politics and keeping their leaders in check.
"I think brighter lights have been turned on in Laval," said Berry.
"It's a lack of involvement from the citizens. Maybe we should be holding them more accountable. Maybe we should be asking more questions."
'Candy sentence' or 'mission accomplished'?
Laval's current mayor, Marc Demers, released a video online declaring "mission accomplished."
He said that many residents were concerned Vaillancourt would get off "scot-free," but that his administration spent months negotiating with the lawyers involved.
"We will be taking to court everyone who has stolen from the City of Laval. You can count on me."
Laval Opposition leader Jean-Claude Gobé told Daybreak he was very disappointed with the "candy sentence."
"He took a lot of money from the citizens of Laval," he said.
Gobé rejected the idea that Vaillancourt deserves a break because he's 75.
"It's unacceptable," he said. "For the ordinary citizen, when they make an offence to the law, they have a sentence they have to do."
With files from CBC's Homerun