Third mayor claimed in corruption scandal

MONTREAL— A third mayor at the heart of Quebec’s corruption crisis has resigned his post, but Mascouche’s long-time leader says he’s stepping down to focus on a family medical emergency — not to fight the criminal charges he’s facing.

Richard Marcotte has been under siege since April when Quebec’s anti-corruption authorities arrested him, along with Quebec’s construction titan Tony Accurso, for allegedly rigging construction contracts in the small town north of Montreal.

A former entrepreneur testified before the Charbonneau corruption inquiry last week that in Mascouche, like many small towns north of Montreal, competitors were effectively barred from bidding on infrastructure projects because an illegal monopoly put in place over the last decade drove up costs billed to taxpayers.

Marcotte’s resignation follows that of ex-Montreal mayor Gérald Tremblay and Laval’s Gilles Vaillancourt. It caps a turbulent month in Quebec municipal politics.

Marcotte is the only one to have been formally charged with a crime, namely corruption, fraud, conspiracy and breach of trust. Rather than resign his post as angry residents have been demanding for months, the mayor effectively went into hiding while vowing to remain in his post until the next election in 2013. The provincial government, which oversees Quebec’s municipalities, found itself powerless to intervene in the case, but introduced legislation earlier this month that would give it authority to turf local officials who are charged with criminal acts.