DD Support Board and Research Team

[Buckey]

I spend time in Montreal in recent years. The media coverage of the various corruption trials of politicians was limited mostly to Quebec but it was mindboggling. I was naive enough to think that stuff didnt happen anymore. When quizzing some of my supplier partners in Quebec they revealed eye opening anecdotes.

The corruption was something right out of the Sopranos. In construction if you didnt play by the bribe rules you didnt play. I love the story of the Laval mayor ( Laval major city/borough beside Montreal) being caught and thrown out for all his corruption to be replaced the man to clean it all up. The new guy got in so he could shred all the stuff that he was soon to be charged with LOL. too lazy to provide links to support it all but the stories of cash payoffs to everyone to get stuff done was legendary.

I remember before all of this I did one of my largest jobs ever for the Feds but it was all layered in to a new lease a federal government department had signed so even though I won the project through the official federal government NMSO process The invoices were issued to the landlord. This job was not in quebec. So when the invoices started to get over due at 45 days I looke duo the guy who owned the building and he was base din Montreal and had an italian last name.

Now I know the Feds would of never allowed a supplierto not be paid but it was a lot of money to me. So I google the guy. He had Miami connections and a few hits on public Montreal inputs at hearings etc. He didnt appear to have a public presence of being "connected" But what the hell ya gonna do. So we did make a few calls - the guy was out of the country stuff.

Then I finally get a call personally from the guy - says he is sorry and will courier out a check. Next day I had a cheque and a $100 gift certificate to the KEG Steakhouse. Sorry no nefarious ending to the story. Guy was just likely a stand up guy - most of his holdings outside MOntreal - maybe because of how hard it was to do biz there.

The City itself is very interesting - not as much as Quebec City but still interesting