After a year as mayor of Laval, Marc Demers took the stand Monday to defend his eligibility  to hold office.
          
During last year’s the election campaign, Demers' opponents argued that he was not eligible to run because he hadn’t been living in Laval for the amount of time required by Quebec law.

After years of allegations of fraud, corruption and gangsterism, Laval seemed to be starting a new chapter with the mayoral race last year.

A total of 44 per cent of voters chose Demers, but he was ruffling feathers long before he won the election.

“We have established all the evidence, all the facts,” said Demers, as he came out of the courtroom to defend his eligibility.

Demers sold his Laval home and went to live in a cottage in Chatham in the Laurentians from the summer of 2012 until he returned to Laval in early 2013.

Quebec's law on municipal elections says in order to run, candidates must have lived in the city for at least 12 months on Sept. 1 of an election year.

An article of that law states those 12 months may be continuous or not.

Judge Danielle Turcotte said that detail of whether those 12 months need be continuous is an important one she'll consider before rendering her judgment.

Before he left his home in June 2012, Demers had lived in Laval for almost 40 years. Former independent candidate Jacques Foucher launched the case.

“There is a fundamental law for municipal elections, you have to respect it,” he said.

The prosecution argued that Demers knew full well he was ineligible and went to the provincial government to try and have the laws amended.

“Law is law. It's not two laws, one for the citizens and one for the politicians,” said Jean-Claude Gobe of Action Laval.

The four defeated mayoral candidates were at the hearings.

“The only thing that the judge should say today is he's out,” said former Laval mayoral candidate Robert Bordeleau.

Demers said he and his team exhausted all avenues before he submitted his candidacy, but ultimately he was advised to go ahead.

“I have great respect for the court system, so I’ll make no comments. We'll wait for the judgment, the decision,” said Demers.