Laurent Blanchard

Laurent Blanchard (born November 25, 1952 in Montreal ) is a Canadian politician and publisher . He was interim mayor of the city of Montreal from June to November 2013 after his two predecessors had to resign on corruption charges.

biography

Blanchard was editor and co-owner of the weekly magazine Les Nouvelles de l'Est for several years and became personal advisor to the president of the Hebdos Telemedia publishing group in the late 1980s . Under Mayor Jean Doré , he was responsible for the city's international relations from 1991 to 1994. From 1995 to 2002 he was General Director of Corporation de développement de l'Est , the economic development agency responsible for the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district. During this time he also served as Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the eastern part of the Île de Montréal .

In 2005, Blanchard was elected to the city council as a representative of the local progressive green party Vision Montréal . In December 2006 he made headlines when he and a party colleague appeared in a bathrobe at a public budget meeting of the city council; the meeting was scheduled for 6 a.m., which they felt was far too early for a meaningful public participation. He was re-elected in 2009 but remained in the opposition. When rumors of corruption began to circulate in the city administration, Mayor Gérald Tremblay set up a commission in November 2011 to review city contracts for irregularities and appointed Blanchard as chairman. In September 2012, Blanchard publicly complained about the small number of contracts his commission was allowed to review.

After it became known that the city had awarded numerous construction contracts to a Mafia- like cartel, Tremblay resigned on November 5, 2012, whereupon the city council appointed Michael Applebaum as his interim successor. This in turn appointed Blanchard chairman of the city executive. Applebaum also resigned on June 18, 2013 after being charged with 14 charges, including fraud and corruption. On June 25, City Council elected Blanchard as interim mayor, with 30 votes out of 61. He announced that he would not run in the ordinary mayoral elections on November 3, 2013 and held office until November 14.

Web links

• Biography on the website of the city of Montreal (French)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Windsor Star, December 19, 2006, p. C1.
2. ^ Rising city of Montreal contract costs raise questions. (No longer available online.) The Gazette , Nov. 17, 2011, archived from the original on Nov. 1, 2013 ; accessed on October 29, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ^ Two ways city could fight collusion. (No longer available online.) The Gazette , September 17, 2012, archived from the original on November 1, 2013 ; accessed on October 29, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ Laurent Blanchard, le maire de la "stabilité". La Presse , June 19, 2013, accessed October 29, 2013 (French).