MONTREAL -- The Charbonneau Commission is continuing to chip away at the Laval administration under former mayor Gilles Vaillancourt.
Jean Gauthier was the notary fingered by the Charbonneau Commission as the man responsible for collecting millions in kickbacks for the mayor's party.
But on the stand before the commission, he is minimizing his role in collecting millions of dollars.
"I played the role of liaison between the engineers -- the liquid cash, the liquid funds, let's call them," said Gauthier.
"Let's call them illegal between the engineers and the party [PRO des Lavallois]"
Gauthier denied ever even sitting down face to face with the mayor, claiming he only had dinner with him once, before he was elected to the role.
He also said he had no idea why engineering firms were giving him money, and he never asked questions.
“The engineer would tell me, ‘The mayor told me to give you this for the party,’ that's all,” he said, also claiming he had no idea there was a system of collusionand kickbacks between engineering firms and city hall before the Charbonneau Commission began its work last fall.
Gauthier also said that his role as liaison ended in 2006, contradicting other testimony saying that he was still actively collecting funds in 2009.
The notary also said that Jean Bertrand, his good friend, was the one who came up with the idea of laundering kickbacks through sitting city councillors.
Bertrand, the lawyer who was the organizer and legal advisor for the Parti PRO des Lavallois, previously testified that he did not consider illegal fundraising to be that bad, and said it was something he learned during his days as a Parti Quebecois organizer.
