Canada PoliticsQuebec’s anti-corruption forces raid offices at Montreal’s City Hall
Updated: 9:55 p.m. (EST)
Montreal City Hall and a number of borough offices were raided by Quebec's anti-corruption squad known as UPAC on Tuesday afternoon.
As explained by the Montreal Gazette, police swept the borough halls of Notre-Dame-de-Grace-Cote-des-Neiges, Saint-Leonard, Lachine, Saint-Laurent and others at approximately 4.20 p.m and ordered employees to vacate the building. The doors were subsequently locked and up to 25 individuals were questioned by police.
It was a coordinated sweep that began shortly after 4 p.m. Tuesday said Anne-Frédérick Laurence, [said] a spokesperson for the Unité permanente anti-corruption (UPAC)
Laurence confirmed that UPAC is probing allegations of fraud, producing false documents and abuse of trust as part of an investigation that has been ongoing since 2010.
Montreal Mayor Michael Applebaum addressed reporters at approximately 9:15 p.m. saying only that the raid included about 125 officers and that he spoke to police but was not, himself, under investigation.
According to CJAD 800, he also said that city hall will be open, as usual, on Wednesday morning.
Police were also photographed, on Tuesday, at the offices of Union Montréal, the political party of former mayor Gérald Tremblay. Tremblay stepped down in November amid allegations that his political party was involved in illegal political financing in connection with the ongoing corruption inquiry into the Quebec construction industry.
Similar allegations also dogged long-time Laval mayor Gilles Vaillancourt. Quebec’s anti-corruption forces raided his home and offices late last year and he subsequently resigned.
(Photo courtesy of The Canadian Press)
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