Contrecoeur housing project deal the last straw, Farinacci testifies

Land being sold well below value, ex-bureaucrat says

While he had witnessed suspicious things at city hall before, former city of Montreal bureaucrat Joseph Farinacci says it was the furtive wheeling and dealing surrounding a municipal land deal in early 2007 that finally prompted him to leave the civil service.

In testimony before the Charbonneau Commission that was originally subject to a publication ban, Farinacci described the Faubourg Contrecoeur housing project in Montreal’s east end as the last straw — the project that pushed him over the edge.

“I was facing a situation that was flagrant, in my opinion,” Farinacci said. “I understood that there was a welloiled machine. I understood that I could fight all I wanted and it wouldn’t change anything. I was unable to keep fighting.”

Farinacci quit his job in early 2007. He had been hired less than three years earlier by the city to ensure that the municipality was getting the best deals possible on real estate transactions. The trouble began, the witness said, when it came time to sell the land for the Contrecoeur project to the SHDM (the Société d’habitation et de développement de Montréal — the city’s municipal housing authority), which would eventually re-sell it to the construction company that won the contract to build on the land. The SHDM’s former director, Martial Fillion, allegedly offered $1 for the property.

Farinacci testified his own evaluations put the price tag at closer to $20 million. “Obviously, we were not in agreement with selling the land for $1,” he told the commission. “It was still good land.”

Eventually, the amount of $14.8 million was agreed upon, with the caveat that when the SHDM re-sold the land, it and the city would split any profits.

That never happened, Farinacci testified. Instead, the SHDM requested a reduction of $14.7 million in the sale price, citing studies that it claimed showed the Contrecoeur land was contaminated and that significant measures would need to be put in place to avoid “vibration impacts” from a nearby quarry.

“Despite the fact that we were told there would be a vi- bration impact … when you read the report, it concludes that there would be no problems,” Farinacci said.

Farinacci’s request for follow-up studies fell on deaf ears at the city, he said, and the deal was approved.

“I maintained my position … the answer was to tell me not to worry about it.”

That same night, in a bar on Crescent St., Farinacci said he ran into an old acquaintance, Gino Lanni, who worked for a local engineering firm. He said Lanni confided in him there was an intricate plan in place to ensure the Contrecoeur project was awarded to construction firm Frank Catania & Associates. .

“Obviously, I said nothing about my situation. I let him talk.”

A few days later, Farinacci walked into the office of his boss — Claude Léger — and quit.

The Contrecoeur deal eventually fell apart, leading to a police probe into the multimillion dollar deal. Investigators found that the tendering and bidding process for the contract had been riddled with inconsistencies, and last spring arrested and charged nine people — including Fillion, who died two weeks ago from an undisclosed illness.