Former mayor’s lawsuit is “the last thing” city’s taxpayers need, says Boyer
Following news in recent weeks that the City of Laval is being compelled to give $1 million to the Canada Revenue Agency to pay off an income tax debt owed by former mayor Gilles Vaillancourt, there was word last week that Vaillancourt has now decided to sue Laval.
“An additional layer of outrage has been added to this deeply shocking case for Laval residents,” Mayor Stéphane Boyer said in a statement last week to the Montreal daily La Presse.
“The last thing they need is to be sued by Gilles Vaillancourt and forced by the court to pay taxes on money he stole from them,” he added.
In recent media interviews, Mayor Boyer pointed out that in 2016, the Quebec government reimbursed to the city money Vaillancourt owed to Revenu Québec without demanding further payment. The mayor believes the federal government has the option to do the same thing using discretionary powers at its disposal.
Heavily redacted legal claim
According to La Presse, which obtained a heavily-redacted copy of a notice of legal action filed by lawyers for Vaillancourt, only 13 of nearly 40 paragraphs in the document were legible, making it difficult to understand the grievances of Laval’s former mayor.
Even the amount of the damages being claimed in the document was redacted beyond legibility. However, a handwritten note on the back of the mentioned a claim for $3,517,000, although the reasons for this massive redaction, unusual in civil matters, were also not clear.
During the March 10 city council meeting, Mayor Stéphane Boyer tabled a resolution asking federal Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne to intervene in the City of Laval’s favor by reversing the CRA decision to bill the City of Laval for the remainder of Vaillancourt’s tax debt.
Ex-mayor’s admissions in court
Vaillancourt, who served as Laval’s mayor from 1989 to 2012, pleaded guilty in 2016 to engaging in corrupt administration practices. This included his admission that millions of dollars of proceeds from the scheme went into a Swiss bank account.
Although Vaillancourt returned more than $7 million to the City of Laval, Radio-Canada reported that the CRA wants Laval to transfer $1 million back to Vaillancourt so that the CRA can close Vaillancourt’s file when the former mayor pays off the tax and interest.
Vaillancourt’s lawyers have argued that the City of Laval should be held responsible for the unpaid taxes since the municipality ultimately received the reimbursed sum. Boyer asked the Carney government to use its discretionary power to prevent Laval from having to pay this amount, as Quebec did in 2018.
Vaillancourt seeks reimbursement
Radio-Canada reported last week that federal Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne will appear before the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Public Accounts, where he may give an update.
In sections of his lawsuit that weren’t redacted, Vaillancourt’s lawyers explain that he reached agreements in 2016 with Revenu Québec, the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions and the City of Laval.
Vaillancourt’s lawyers say he is asking the court to order the City of Laval to pay four separate amounts – which were all redacted in the legal document – including reimbursement of his extrajudicial fees.
