Monday news roundup: YOLO

We were pretty disappointed to learn Charbonneau Commission witnesses don’t accept Canadian Tire money • Photo via Flickr

Well, we don’t have hockey, but we do have the Charbonneau Commission, the gift that keeps giving, as well as the mayoral drama it has fuelled.

First it was Gérald Tremblay, who ruled the city with an iron fist — or at least a hand gripping a cash-filled brown envelope tightly — for about a decade. Then Laval mayor Gilles Vaillancourt, presumably tired of cops raiding his home and office abandoned his post after 23 years. And, not to be outdone, Michael Applebaum, Montreal’s number-two man, took off, too. He resigned as the city’s executive committee chairperson on Friday, calling the committee out for a perceived lack of transparency. But rumour has it that he was majorly pissed Richard Deschamps was named interim honcho instead of him (an allegation he denies).

So what now? Well, yesterday saw a by-election — the fifth in three years —  in Rivière-des-Prairies. To no one’s shock, Nino Colavecchio, flying the figuratively tattered Union Montréal flag, was ousted, and Cindy Leclerc of Vision Montréal took it for the folks who give a shit about integrity. (Projet Montréal’s Nathalie Pierre-Antoine landed in third place.)

Elsewhere on the island, the Charbonneau Commission persists, with Luc Leclerc (no relation), a one-time engineer with the city, on the stand. Per Leclerc, no apology will change things, so why say sorry for taking more than $500,000 in kickbacks?

YOLO, we suppose. ■