Established in 2011 and officially known as the “Commission of Inquiry on the Awarding and Management of Public Contracts in the Construction Industry”, the alternately known “Charbonneau Commission” will cease it’s sittings and inquiries today. Chaired by Justice France Charbonneau, the mandate of this Committee was to:
Examine the existence of schemes and, where appropriate, to paint a portrait of activities involving collusion and corruption in the provision and management of public contracts in the construction industry (including private organizations, government enterprises and municipalities) and to include any links with the financing of political parties.
Paint a picture of possible organized crime infiltration in the construction industry.
Examine possible solutions and make recommendations establishing measures to identify, reduce and prevent collusion and corruption in awarding and managing public contracts in the construction industry.
After nearly 200 estimated witnesses and many testimonies over the last few years, the Charbonneau commission finally ends it’s public hearings today. The many witnesses have detailed intricate systems of bid-rigging, intimidation, pay-offs and much collusion, not only in the construction industry but many others.
From Politicians to Mobsters, Construction companies and Lay people, to Cities and Public Institutions- numerous witnesses blew the lid off many schemes and kickbacks over the last few years.
Repercussions in the political arena even saw the resignations of Laval mayor Gilles Vaillancourt, Montreal mayor Gérald Tremblay and Montreal interim-mayor Michael Applebaum .
UPAC investigators and Quebec’s permanent anti-corruption squad -was created to deal with the fight against corruption ( LCLCC ) in March 2011 , seven months before the Charbonneau commission was created. Its mission was and is is to ensure coordination of prevention and the fight against corruption in contracting in the public sector. They have surely been able to keep themselves busy.
You can peruse a great UPAC timeline here via the Montreal Gazette.
To read timeline transcripts and see relative video and recordings please click here to go to the Commission’s website.
The best summary so far may be found in the words of Giuseppe Borsellino:
‘Everything is Truqué!