Charbonneau fallout: calls for Minister Zakaib to resign

CTV Montreal: Former union head accused of accepti Former FTQ-construction boss Jean Lavallee cross-examined at the Charbonneau Commission.

The fallout from the Charbonneau Commission revelations concerning PQ cabinet minister Elaine Zakaib continued Thursday, with more calls for her to step down.

Wiretaps heard at the corruption inquiry this week revealed that when Zakaib was a staff member for the FTQ Solidarity Fund, she was aware that construction company magnate Tony Accurso was receiving beneficial treatment and did nothing to stop it.

On wiretaps from 2009 she is heard telling then-president of the Quebec Federation of Labour (QFL) Michel Arsenault "It's better for me, the less I know."

Zakaib later became a candidate for the Parti Quebecois and after being elected to the National Assembly in 2012 was named industry minister.

Speaking on Wednesday, Zakaib insisted that she sounded the alarm in 2009 as soon as she noticed irregularities in how Accurso was being treated, and that Jocelyn Dupuis and Jean Lavallée asked the fund not to invest with Accurso's competitors.

On Thursday, Premier Pauline Marois confirmed that investigators from the Charbonneau inquiry met with Zakaib earlier this month.

CAQ leader Francois Legault said Thursday that Zakaib must step down pending an investigation into her actions.

"I think that right now we have to suspend Mme. Zakaib," said Legault. "I can understand that she last night, she said in a press conference that as soon as she knew about this link with Jean Lavallée that she acted. But when we hear the electronic communication at the Charbonneau Commission, that's not true."

The Liberal party is also demanding Zakaib step down, with former Labour Minister Lise Theriault saying Zakaib cannot be trusted to oversee public funds.

"She closed her eyes to a system of collusion," Theriault said.

Zakaib says her actions were appropriate, and she will not leave.

Inquiry probing ties to criminals and suspected crooks

Meanwhile the inquiry continues to probe Lavallée's actions while he was president of the QFL’s construction union.

Thursday morning the inquiry learned that when the fund tried to clean house, following Ken Pereira's whistleblowing revelations in 2009, it ended up being on the hook for a substantial sum.

Previous witnesses have explained that the fund and its real estate arm SOLIM wanted to cut ties with Denis Vincent, a suspected associate of the Hells Angels.

Vincent acted as a middleman, bringing investment opportunities to the Fund's attention, but in 2009 the Fund's directors decided associating with a man who associated with gangsters was too much of a liability.

The Fund's real estate arm ended up buying out Vincent's investments -- for an amount twice the value of the assets.

In the afternoon, prosecutors returned to Lavallee's time as head of the electrician's union, the Fraternite Inter-Provinciale des Ouvriers en Electricite (FIPOE), which is affiliated with the QFL, during his testimony at the inquiry.

It has its own investment fund, and it was used to build a condo project at 6650 Couture Blvd. in St. Leonard.

Lavallee found plenty of buyers, including several known criminals.

And when he was left with five unsold units, a generous buyer picked up all of them.

His name? Tony Accurso, who bought them because he had the means to sell them, Lavallee reasoned.

Lavallee was being cross-examined Thursday and with his testimony winding down, the commission could call a new witness as early as next Monday.