Union executive says he was powerless to deny Accurso requests

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The reputation of the Quebec Federation of Labour continues to be dragged through the mud at the Charbonneau Commission.

Hearings have revealed that senior executives at the union and its investment arm were prone to rubber-stamping decisions made by an entrepreneur who is now charged with more than 900 crimes.

Guy Gionet was a former executive with the QFL Solidarity Fund's real estate branch, known as SOLIM.

He said that despite being hired for his extensive banking experience, he had very little say in how the fund made its investments once he began working for the branch.

Gionet said he was forced to grant Tony Accurso privileged access to the fund, and go along with his requests to fast-track projects backed by mobsters. He said he also had to frequently deny funding to good projects that were backed by Accurso's competitors.

The former executive said if he ever dreamed of refusing, or he would have had to face the FTQ-Construction president Jean Lavallée.

"Mr. Lavallée, to put it in context is like a god, I know it's a strong term, a god at the QFL and the Fund," said Gionet. "He is someone with a lot of power. He was there from the beginning, the creation of the Fund. They say he helped the Fund, built the Fund, so it's his baby, someone with a lot of power."

Gionet said he figured everyone was aware of the shady deals happening, since no one said anything. One wiretap shows Gionet abstain from questioning Accurso when he tells him of a tax-scheme he had in mind.

Commission president France Charbonneau was not impressed with Gionet's testimony, and told him that if he had the power on paper to direct funding, all Gionet lacked was the backbone to make his own decisions.

“You had the authority, but not the character to say no,” she said.

When the scandal exploded in 2009, the solidarity fund tried to cover up what was going on, which meant that the first order of business was to sever all ties with Accurso.

Tomorrow, Lavallée will likely take the stand, bringing the union segment of the Charbonneau Commission to a close.