Trépanier stands by his denials
Former fundraiser continues to deny illegal donations
The inquiry resumes with the former head of financing for Union Montreal insisting he never accepted illegal donations, and suggesting instead that engineering firms are setting him up.
Lawyers for the Charbonneau Commission can question him until they are blue in the face, Bernard Trépanier declared on Monday, but he “won’t crack” when it comes to allegations of illegal donations to Union Montreal.
Retaking the stand at the inquiry after a two-week hiatus, a defiant Trépanier continues to deny that he ever accepted envelopes stuffed with cash from five of the largest engineering firms in Montreal. Any money he received from them was payment for tickets to fundraisers, he explained, and nothing more.
Executives from Dessau, Genivar, SNC-Lavalin, BPR and Genius have all said the opposite under oath — alleging that they participated in illegal funding schemes at the request of Trépanier, who served as financing head for Union Montreal between 2004 and 2006.
According to Trépanier, he’s been set up by the firms, who figure he’ll roll over and accept the blame. “‘ He’ll take it. … He’s 74 years old. He’ll crack,’ ” Trépanier said of their attitudes toward him. “I won’t crack.”
After some prompting, however, Trépanier did admit to one blemish on his record — namely, a $40,000 cash donation from SNC-Lavalin which he accepted in advance of the municipal election in 2005. He testified he put the cash in a safe and informed Union Montreal’s then-official agent, Marc Deschamps, of the gift. He never told executive committee head Frank Zampino about it, he added.
Deschamps, who testified at the inquiry in March, denied all knowledge of illegal fundraising, speculating that Trépanier had pocketed the money for himself.
Trépanier was also asked specifically on Monday whether he was aware of any collusion between construction companies in Montreal. Eight witnesses have testified that a cartel did exist in the mid-2000s, but Trépanier denied any knowledge of such a system.
“I didn’t know about that,” he said. “The construction bosses, I didn’t deal with them.”
But phone records obtained by the inquiry tell a different tale. They suggest Trépanier was, in fact, in frequent contact with construction bosses Paolo Catania, Nicolo Milioto and Tony Accurso. Trépanier acknowledged that he considers Accurso to be “a friend,” and said he even vacationed on Accurso’s yacht in “2006 or 2007” with engineering executive Bernard Poulin.
“I went off on my own” on the boat, Trépanier told a clearly skeptical Justice France Charbonneau. He said the men never discussed city business during their weeklong vacation on the luxury vessel.
“I read my book. … I watched movies.”
In a day filled with twists and turns, the inquiry also took a closer look at Trépanier’s personal political donations. He and his wife gave a combined $25,000 to the Quebec Liberal Party between 2003 and 2009, records show.
Trépanier testified that he never did any financing work for the provincial party, and that he only showed up at a 2007 brunch hosted by former Liberal minister Line Beauchamp because he was invited by her then-partner, Pierre Bibeau.
The event was definitely not a fundraiser, he said, but Bibeau asked him specifically to make sure that executive committee chair Zampino would be there.
“That was the only task I was given,” Trépanier said.
Earlier in the day, it was revealed that Astral Media paid Trépanier just under $570,000 between 2002 and 2010 to, as the witness put it, “open doors.” The corporate giant wanted to erect huge billboards in various municipalities across the province, Trépanier said, and he had the political connections to help make that happen. “I was the person who opened doors,” the witness said. “When you call someone (at a municipality), it can take weeks. When you know them, it’s three days.”
Trépanier is expected to re-take the stand on Tuesday morning, and will be followed by Zampino.