MONTREAL - The city is helpless to prevent a company run by the daughter of Tony Accurso from landing a $2.2 million city contract, Montreal mayor Laurent Blanchard said Thursday.
Accurso currently faces a series of criminal charges related to fraud and corruption but has not been found guilty of a crime that would land him on the city’s contract blacklist.
Nor has Accurso admitted to any wrongdoings at Charbonneau commission hearings and as a result the city cannot legally turn down the bid, according to Montreal's interim mayor.
The contract in question was awarded to Lisa Accurso's Simard-Beaudry Construction which is a subsidiary of Gestion Accuvest, whose president is Tony Accurso.
“Under the rules we have, we cannot say 'we won’t give the contract,' because the company is presumed honest until it is proved the contrary,” said mayor Laurent Blanchard.
The city is currently in discussions with the province to see how such situations can be avoided in the future.
