Public consultation planned for Mont Laval project in Ste-Dorothée
Published Wed. March 10,, 2010
By Martin C. Barry • TLN
Photo: Martin C. Barry
Provincial law is such that Laval has no choice but to award a contract to the lowest
bidder, no matter what anybody thinks of the company, says Mayor Gilles Vaillancourt.
Insinuations of construction industry corruption, which gained momentum with the launch last summer of a provincial police investigation, continue to haunt the administration at Laval city hall, much to the delight of the opposition.
Measures sought
During city council’s monthly meeting last Monday evening, Pont-Viau resident Marc Demers, a former Laval police force detective and a PQ candidate, asked Mayor Gilles Vaillancourt what measures he plans to put into place to assure that taxpayers’ money doesn’t end up with corrupt contractors.
“Like you, we have seen in the media certain allegations to the effect that certain businesses might be in collusion when it comes to contracts,” replied Vaillancourt. The mayor maintained that provincial law is such that Laval has no choice but to award a contract to the lowest bidder, no matter what anybody thinks of the company in question.
Opération Marteau
He noted that in addition to Opération Marteau, which is the name of the SQ’s investigation, the provincial government also recently appointed former Montreal police chief Jacques Duchesneau to head up a construction sector anti-collusion unit. “The government put into Opération Marteau, whose aim is to investigate the construction industry to see whether any of these events are actually taking place, and if so to see that those who are responsible are pursued in courts of law,” Vaillancourt added.
He said the City of Laval had made many suggestions to Quebec for a new piece of provincial legislation to correct the situation. It is expected to be enacted in April and could also lay the groundwork for further improvements.
Fradet on hot seat again
Before questioning city councillor and executive committee member Benoît Fradet, perennial mayoral candidate Rick Blatter was cautioned by the council’s president, Francine Légaré to avoid asking anything about Fradet’s private life and his full-time employment.
Mrs. Légaré, insisted that Fradet’s private life have nothing to do with the City of Laval. At last month’s council meeting, Fradet was forced to defend himself after several media reports noted that he found employment with a St. Eustache-based construction company, Schokbéton, which had done the demolition work on the Souvenir Boulevard overpass after it collapsed a decade ago, killing several people. Fradet started working for Schokbéton two years later and has since become a vice-president.
Fradet said questions about the collapsed overpass should be addressed to the Quebec coroner’s office and the Ministry of Transport, since they, and not the City of Laval, issued the contract to Schokbéton to demolish the damaged overpass. When Blatter continued badgering Fradet over how he manages to hold down at least two full-time jobs, Fradet insisted that he just works very hard and that he stands by his record as a city councillor for the past 12 years.
ML supporter ejected
Emilio Migliozzi, who ran as a candidate for the Mouvement lavallois party in the last city election, was removed from the council chamber by police when he tried to submit a written question for question period. He was ruled out of order by the council president because he had not handed in his question in time. Protesting loudly as he was ejected, Migliozzi was followed out shortly afterwards by ML president David de Cotis and the party’s mayoral candidate Lydia Aboulian, who also voiced their objections.
Second try for Mont Laval
After seeing the Parc Mont Laval residential development project in Ste. Dorothée rejected last summer by local residents, the Vaillancourt administration has decided to have another go at it and will be holding a public consultation meeting this fall or next autumn as a prerequisite to obtaining a needed zoning change. During the council meeting, Vaillancourt tabled a petition from some residents who support the revised project. While it is a residential development, the land’s owner wants to preserve large expanses of green space. All the same, during question period at least one person came forward to voice his adamant opposition.