Liberal MNA Says He Was Offered Cash By Laval Mayor

Vincent Auclair is the second politician in three days to claim that Gilles Vaillancourt offered him illegal campaign contributions.

On Monday Serge Ménard, a current Bloc Québécois MP, alleged that Vaillancourt attempted to give him an envelope filled with $10,000 in 1993 when Ménard was running in a provincial election. The limit on campaign donations is $3,000 and contributions must be made by cheque. Now Liberal MNA Vincent Auclair says he too was offered cash by Vaillancourt, Laval’s six-term mayor. Both men claim they refused the offer. Vaillancourt has vigorously denied the allegations. There is a five-year statute of limitations on violations of Québec’s campaign finance law and Vaillancourt will not be charged, but the allegations have renewed calls to review the ways campaigns are financed in Québec. In a controversial cover story earlier this year, Maclean’s called Québec Canada’s most corrupt province.