{"id":319,"date":"2015-01-21T18:33:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-21T18:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rf.podcastfixit.com\/index.php\/2015\/01\/21\/city-poised-to-sue-former-suppliers\/"},"modified":"2015-06-01T19:40:40","modified_gmt":"2015-06-01T19:40:40","slug":"city-poised-to-sue-former-suppliers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2015\/01\/21\/city-poised-to-sue-former-suppliers\/","title":{"rendered":"City poised to sue former suppliers"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Robert Frank<\/b>
\nwww.thesuburban.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Laval wants its money back.<\/p>\n

Within weeks, the city expects to be in court to pursue Vaillancourt-era engineering firms and contractors, David de Cotis told The Suburban.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be legal proceedings submitted to the court, together with evidence, to recover some of the funds that were squandered in the collusion and corruption years that Mayor Vaillancourt was in power,\u201d the executive committee vice-chairman said in an interview.
\n\u201cNot only the mayor but also the institutions that worked with the mayor in terms of public offerings and so forth,\u201d he added. \u201cThese institutions will also face legal proceedings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tens, hundreds of millions at stake?<\/b><\/p>\n

Though de Cotis declined to specify exactly how much the city hopes to recover, he hinted that the figure will be an eye-popper.<\/p>\n

\u201cMillions and millions and millions of dollars,\u201d he repeated. \u201cIt\u2019s quite substantial.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve hired a legal team to review the different types of contracts and public offers that were made during the Vaillancourt administration,\u201d de Cotis continued. \u201cAfter these are studied formally we will go public and make people aware of the precise amount of money that the city will try to recover. Money that was squandered. Contractors, different engineering firms and different vendors \u2014 even people internal to the City of Laval will receive subpoenas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in a very strong position to move forward with our lawsuit,\u201d he said. \u201cThe money belongs to the citizens of Laval and will go back to the citizens of Laval in one way or another.\u201d
\n
<\/b>
\nWants tougher law<\/b><\/p>\n

Laval is calling on the Liberal government to put more teeth into a draft law that will help to recover the city\u2019s money.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want Laval taxpayers to have to foot Gilles Vaillancourt\u2019s legal bills,\u201d de Cotis declared.<\/p>\n

Laval welcomed the legislation, known as Bill 26, but Mayor Marc Demers told a provincial parliamentary committee, Jan. 15, that Quebec should tighten the screws on former elected representatives and civil servants even further.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe accused should bear the burden of proof,\u201d Demers said. \u201cIt would greatly facilitate our claims.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forcing the accused to prove their innocence would be a rare, radical shift away from most laws in North America and Europe, which instead usually require the state to prove the accused\u2019s guilt.<\/p>\n

Demers also wants Quebec to prohibit the accused from transferring alleged ill-gotten gains to their loved ones.<\/p>\n

He concluded by cautioning lawmakers against concentrating too much power in the provincial Justice Minister\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would threaten municipal autonomy,\u201d he warned. \u201cCities that can, ought to be able to file their own claims independently [of Quebec City].\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, Laval wants to get back the severance pay and pension money that it has paid to anyone who might ultimately be found guilty.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe day that Mayor Vaillancourt left office, he pocketed $240,000 in severance pay,\u201d Demers reminded.
\n
<\/b>
\nFund formed<\/b><\/p>\n

Laval plans to press forward regardless of what happens in the National Assembly, de Cotis told The Suburban.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cBill 26 will just amplify our stand with the support and backing of the provincial government,\u201d he said. \u201cOur recommendations were very well received by the provincial government.<\/p>\n

De Cotis said that the city already recovered $200,000 \u201cin corruption and collusion money\u201d in 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to a fund,\u201d he disclosed. \u201cThe millions of dollars recovered through the legal process will be put into a fund to give back to the citizens of Laval\u2014different associations that are really in need of some grants to give back to needy people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Robert Frank www.thesuburban.com Laval wants its money back. Within weeks, the city expects to be in court to pursue Vaillancourt-era engineering firms and contractors, David de Cotis told The Suburban. \u201cThere will be legal proceedings submitted to the court, together with evidence, to recover some of the funds that were squandered in the collusion<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nCity poised to sue former suppliers - Newscoverage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2015\/01\/21\/city-poised-to-sue-former-suppliers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"City poised to sue former suppliers - Newscoverage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Robert Frank www.thesuburban.com Laval wants its money back. Within weeks, the city expects to be in court to pursue Vaillancourt-era engineering firms and contractors, David de Cotis told The Suburban. \u201cThere will be legal proceedings submitted to the court, together with evidence, to recover some of the funds that were squandered in the collusion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2015\/01\/21\/city-poised-to-sue-former-suppliers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newscoverage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/robert.frank.90834\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-21T18:33:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-06-01T19:40:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"editor robert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"editor robert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/21\\\/city-poised-to-sue-former-suppliers\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/21\\\/city-poised-to-sue-former-suppliers\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"editor robert\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3\"},\"headline\":\"City poised to sue former suppliers\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-21T18:33:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-01T19:40:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/21\\\/city-poised-to-sue-former-suppliers\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":594,\"commentCount\":0,\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/21\\\/city-poised-to-sue-former-suppliers\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/21\\\/city-poised-to-sue-former-suppliers\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/21\\\/city-poised-to-sue-former-suppliers\\\/\",\"name\":\"City poised to sue former suppliers - 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