Under a (Sigh) Cloud

"All elected people, at all levels, are accused of all sorts of wrong-doing.  We're hearing all sorts of things, we're facing allegations that, without being proven, can irreversibly change someone's reputation ... I am one of these people, and I'm deeply hurt.
"Whatever I say or do ... the damage (to my reputation) is done."
Gilles Vaillancourt, former mayor of Laval, aka "The Monarch"

It is most unfortunate that Mr. Vaillancourt feels deeply hurt.  The people of Laval, Quebec, it would appear, are deeply disappointed.  They, it would appear, feel deeply - how does that quaint saying go? ripped off ... that's it.  Paying their taxes, they voted for a man for whom reason might have informed them not to, but people feel comfortable in resorting to repeating the same mistakes over and over.

Gilles Vaillancourt resigned after 23 years at the public trough, which for him had a pot of gold under the rainbow of public trust.  Alas, the cloud of suspicion that now hangs so densely over him where before it was just a light cloud cover of possibility, has occluded that brightly coloured rainbow and the pot of gold has somehow disappeared.

He gave his all for the people of Laval, and this is how they have repaid him.  Life is so sad, so unfair.  He loved his position, loved his city, loved the electorate that returned him time and time again.  But he had no option now but to resign his authority as mayor.  For, as the good man said, his reputation is "done".

This is not a classical whodunit.  It is fairly well accepted that the mayor "did" this to himself.  He is reaping the fruits of his ever-so-bountiful orchard of corruption.  Nothing lasts forever, we are always told.  And twenty-three years at the helm of municipal governing, helping himself with lavish dips into the public trough has given him more than ample time to enrich himself.

In protesting his innocence, he will have the leisure and the opportunity before the courts to plead his case.  He will be given the opportunity to explain all the evidence that will have been uncovered as a result of the province's anti-corruption unit having raided engineering companies and his own home, condo, offices and bank safety-deposit boxes.

It will be fascinating to hear him adroitly explain away the testimony of former construction boss Lino Zambito that Mr. Vaillancourt received contract kickbacks in Laval.  It will take more than denials, however, to convince the authorities and the people of Laval that he has not over the space of too many years, betrayed their trust.

But he will be given that opportunity.