Feds Embroiled in Engineering Firm Scandal
Announcement posted by DesignBuild Source 14 May 2012
The federal government has become embroiled in scandal as three Quebec engineering firms whose employees donated to the party have more recently been linked to collusion scandals.
The three firms in question are BPR; Leroux, Beaudoin, Hurens & Associes and Roche Ltd., each of which rank among Quebec’s largest engineering consulting firms.
A total of 15 employees from the three firms were arrested as part of an investigation into the province’s construction industry. BPR also faces charges of fraud and conspiracy. Those arrested include Leroux, Beaudoin, Hurens & Associes head Jean Leroux, who donated $666.66 to the Conservative Party of Canada Association in the riding and Roche Ltd. vice president France Michaud, who donated $400.
The donations are said to be linked to a May 20 fundraiser at which Harper and multiple engineering firm employees embroiled in the scandal were in attendance.
Corporate donations are illegal, and some look at the donations by individual employees of certain firms as a means of skirting the law, essentially using those employees as a vehicle through which corporate donations can be made to look like private donations.
A task force has been struck in Quebec to look into allegations that the firms partook in collusion, kickbacks, ties to the Mafia, money laundering and illegal campaign contributions. The firms’ employees’ donations to the Tories came in Laurier-Sainte-Marie, a Liberal stronghold...