A former member of the team of deposed mayor of Laval Gilles Vaillancourt, who himself was fined for having served as a nominee, wants to become mayor of Piedmont, in the Laurentians.
Denis Robillard was a municipal councilor in Laval from 2001 to 2013. During this period, he was a member of the administration of Gilles Vaillancourt, this former mayor of Laval sentenced to six years in prison at the end of 2016 for a vast fraud in link with public contracts between 1996 and 2010.
Mr. Robillard pleaded guilty in the mid-2010s to a nominee charge. The Chief Electoral Officer criticized him and other advisers at the time for having “towards[é] a contribution other than out of its own property”. In his case, it was a $1,000 donation to Gilles Vaillancourt’s defunct PRO des Lavallois party.
Now based in Piedmont, he has entered the race for mayor of this municipality where by-elections will be held on June 12 to fill four positions on the municipal council, including that of mayor.
His past quickly caught up with him and his candidacy is now the talk of Piedmont.
“I know I made a mistake,” said Mr. Robillard, who has a university degree in public service management, human resources and recreational techniques. “It’s a very small stain in my file if we take into account all that I have accomplished for the population of Sainte-Rose. [son district électoral à Laval] during my 12 years of political involvement. I am a dedicated person who has always defended the values of unity, honesty and transparency.
Same appreciation on the side of the interim mayor of Piedmont, Richard Valois, who took over from the mayoress Nathalie Rochon who announced her resignation last March, with three councillors.
“It’s a very minor offense given his political background. Of course, we did our investigation before accepting him in our ranks, but everything is legitimate in his case, ”says Mr. Valois. The latter had himself considered submitting his candidacy for mayor, but decided to line up behind Denis Robillard, whom he considers more experienced.
This opinion is not shared, however, by the other candidate for mayor, Martin Nadon, who also has experience in the municipal world, having been director general of four municipalities during his career.
“It is clear that Team Robillard is trying, through communication strategies, to conceal the embarrassing past of its leader who was an advisor to Mayor Vaillancourt, in Laval, and who pleaded guilty to charges of illegal election financing”, deplores Mr. Nadon.
According to him, the three councilors remaining on the municipal council, including Richard Valois, as well as the candidates from Équipe Robillard for the partial elections in June, “demonstrate the elasticity of their sense of ethics by associating with a such candidate.