Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre is demanding more say in the fight to get refunds for money stolen through corruption.
Speaking before a parliamentary committee discussing Bill 61 at the National Assembly, the mayor said that Montrealers should receive money paid by criminals convicted of defrauding the city, instead of having those funds going into provincial coffers.
"We can do our own thing but I believe that we are aiming at the same goal. So if we have that Montreal clause we will be able to recuperate that money," said Coderre.
Article 22 of the proposed legislation would give the provincial government a 20 percent share of all money retrieved from criminals in order to defray the costs of criminal cases. The remaining funds would then be split between the province and the affected city or public
organization that was the victim.
Coderre said instead, money recovered should go toward cities, since they were the ones robbed.
He also said that if the government wanted to be compensated for legal fees, then it should levy an extra fine on criminals.
"If you want to put some money aside to pay some fees, okay, we can do that. But I don't think it's at the expense of the taxpayers," said Coderre.
The provincial justice minister, Bernard St-Arnaud, said those were changes that he could support.
