10 witnesses whose testimony rocked the Charbonneau commission

After two-and-a-half years of testimony and nearly 190 witnesses, the Charbonneau commission wraps up its public hearings today.

Take a look back at some of the most important, revealing and shocking testimony from the commission's keywitnesses.

1. GiuseppeBorsellino: 'Everything istruqu'

Borsellino shed light on the extent of the widespread collusion scheme involvingMontreal public works contractsthat saw bids rigged in exchange for kickbacks and false extras approved for additional profits.

He readily admitted to taking part in the scheme, however,he saidit was not construction bosses, but a City of Montrealengineer who came up with thecash-for-contracts deal.

Earlier in the commission hearings, that engineer, GillesSurprenant, struggled to hold back tears as he told the commission how he was corruptedby the entrepreneurs. He admitted to pocketing $600,000 in kickbacks.

Borsellino also told the commission that he was actively solicited to attend cocktail fundraisers thrown by political parties, whichpitched them as networking opportunities. He said he eventually stopped attending the eventsbecause he deemed the donations "unethical."

• Contractor charges Montreal's 'Mr. TPS' proposed collusion scheme

2.Nicolo Milioto: 'Mr. Sidewalk'

Described by police as the "middleman" between the industry and the Montreal Mob, Miliotonotably denied even knowing what the Mafia was when he took the witness box in February 2013.

During four days of heated testimony,Milioto known as 'Mr. Sidewalk' for his stranglehold on city sidewalk contractsdenied virtually every allegation against him.

Miliotos alleged links to the Mob made headlines in the fall, when anRCMP officer testified before the commission that he was captured on police surveillance video 236 times at the Consenza Social Cluba once-popular Mafia hangout in Montreal.

He wasinfamously caught on surveillance videostuffing cash from a construction boss into his socks and handing it to a known associate of NickRizzutoSr.,the patriarch of the reputed crime family.

Miliotoadmitted that hetook money from another construction entrepreneur and brought itto the former Don of the Montreal Mob, but he insisted he was merely doing a favour for a friend and didn't ask what the cash was for.

Miliotos company's work with the city jumped between 2006 and 2009, topping out at nearly $22 million in contracts. However, that figure plummeted after 2009, coinciding with the city's institution ofa new code of ethics.

• Quebec's 'Mr. Sidewalk' denies doing business with Mob

3. Grald Tremblay: The willfully blind mayor

Montreals former mayor, who stepped down from his post while pleading his innocence months before his testimony, told the commission he was never informed about a system of public contract collusion, seemingly operating under his nose at cityhall for years.

The first reference of collusion that was brought to his attention, he told the commission, came in the form of a 2009 report by the Auditor General.

He also denied knowing anything about off-the-books fundraising by his party Union Montral, although other witnesses testified funds weresolicited in exchange for favourable access to city contracts.

Tremblay did admit that it was common knowledge that elected officials and bureaucrats received perks, such asinvitations to hockey gamesfrom city suppliers.

Its not forbidden for an elected official, from time to time, to go to a hockey game. . . or put in a round of golf, he told the commission, adding he presumed that people knew where to draw the line.

4. Julie Boulet: The sitting MNA

The former transport minister and only sitting MNAto testify at the commission, Boulet was dogged by the question of a $100,000 annual funding objective for cabinet ministers back in the2000s.

Inquiry counsel Sonia LeBel confronted Boulet with the words of two of her ex-cabinet colleagues, Sam Hamad and Christine St-Pierre, who said the $100,000 objective was widely known.

Boulet reiterated she had no idea about anyfundraisingobjectives until learning of them from a colleague in 2009. She also refuted earlier testimony from an entrepreneurwho claimedhe was frozen out of the transport minister's office after refusing to make a party donation.

Boulet denied ever calling any entrepreneurs directly to solicitdonations.

• Julie Boulet denies $100K Liberal funding goal at inquiry

5. Martin Dumont: The man who felled the mayor

The former Union Montral organizer shocked Montrealers when he told the commission he was once called in to a partisan fundraising official's office to help when Bernard Trpaniercouldn't close hissafebecause it was stuffed too full of cash.

He also alleged thatNicolo Milioto threatened him, telling Dumont, then chief of staff for a borough mayor, "I wouldn't want you to find yourself in the foundation of one of my sidewalks," after Dumontnoticed discrepancies between two sidewalk contracts.

But it was his allegationthat Montreal Mayor Grald Tremblayturned a blind eye when presented with two sets of financial records for a 2004 byelection campaign in the St-Laurent borough that sent the biggest ripples through Montreal City Hall.

Tremblayquit political life within days of that testimony, vehemently denying Dumont's version of the facts.

• Montreal mayor allegedly aware of illegal campaign spending

6. Frank Zampino: The alleged power broker

Zampino'sname peppered the testimony of a stream of witnesses from the construction industry, many of whom have pointed to the former executive-committee head as the man pulling the strings in a collusion scheme that allegedly sawlarge engineering firms payingbig donations tothe Union Montral party in exchange for entry into a municipal contract-sharing arrangement.

Mayor Grald Tremblay'sformer right-hand man, Zampino left municipal politics in 2008.

The former head of the city's executive committee told the commission he didn't necessarily have a problem with bureaucrats accepting gifts like hockey tickets and golf trips, as long as the rules were followed. What mattered, he said,was to resist being influenced and to avoid favouring certain contractors.

He testified that word of kickback schemes never reached the level of the city's powerful executive committee.

"I repeat: We were never made aware and never saw any red flags," Zampino told the commission.

A portion of his testimony was covered by a publication ban because Zampinois still facing a number of criminal charges including fraud, conspiracy and breach of trust.

• Zampino tells inquiry gifts didn't influence decision-making

7. Lino Zambito: The star witness

During several days of testimony,Zambitonamed names, recalled meetings anddetailed his involvement in a collusion scheme that included billing city hall for false expenses on municipal projects.

In one of the more shocking allegations heard by thecommission,Zambitorecounted a business dispute between himself and Accurso over a lucrative Transports Qubec contract.He saidVitoRizzuto, the late former head of the Montreal Mafia, met with the two men at a Laval restaurant to mediate the disagreement over the contract for theAcadieCircle.

Zambito, who left the construction industry, also told the commission that asystem of collusion in Laval was well-entrenched. He said construction entrepreneurs were expected togive a "cut" worth 2.5 per centof the value of each contract to Mayor GillesVaillancourt.

Within a month, Vaillancourt who had served as mayor since 1989had resigned his post. Six months later, still maintaining his innocence,Vaillancourt was arrested and charged with conspiracy, fraud, influence peddling, breach of trust andgangsterism.

• Zambito implicates Laval mayor, parties at corruption inquiry

8. Ken Pereira: The whistleblower

The former employee of the FTQ'sconstruction wing told the commission he stole documents from the unions officewhich showed its executive director, JocelynDupuis, was running up astronomical expenses.

But after he turned to police andinvestigative journalistAlainGravel, he said it became clear his life was in danger.

He said the federations top brass tried to buy his silence, offering him $300,000. He also testified he wastold to shut up by a highly placed associate of Montreals Mob,RaynaldDesjardins.

Pereira also testified that organized criminals fixed the 2008 election for the unions executive.

He said bikers had beenseen circling the polling station. Then a candidate not connected with organized crime suddenly pulled out of the race.

At the end of his six days of testimony, commission chairwomanFrance Charbonneau thankedPereirafor his testimony, telling him he had proved his bravery.

• WATCH: Ken Pereira, corruption crusader

9. Jocelyn Dupuis: The fallen union leader

During his time in the witness box, Dupuis was inundated withwiretap evidence conversations between himself and various people with close ties to organized crime, includingassociates of the Montreal Mafia and theHells Angels.

However, Dupuisdenied that those people were pulling the strings at FTQ-Constructionwhilehe was director. He toldtheinquiry he neverrealized that he was involved with organized crime figures, including former Rizzuto lieutenantRaynald Desjardins.

Dupuis said his only interest was in rehabilitating people such asDesjardins and giving them a chance to get back on their feet by working in the construction industry.

• Jocelyn Dupuis says Mob not in control of FTQ under his watch

10. Tony Accurso: The construction tycoon

Photos of union bosses and city officials partying on Accurso's luxury yacht, The Touch, may remain among the most iconic images of the commission. Accurso's friends in high places were among the many topics probed during his testimony.

He stressed that he never invited elected officials, municipal or provincial,on his infamous yacht, the Touch. But among the names on the guest list he provided to the commission was one celebrity: Mick Jagger.

Accursofreely admitted to havingclose, family-like relationships with high-ranking union leaders, many of whom vacationed in the Caribbean on his boat.

He also confirmed before the commission that he hadan extensive network of contacts that includedsome members of the Montreal Mafia.

It wasa significant admission for a man who has spent years denying he had any connection to members of organized crime.

However, Accurso repeatedly denied that he ever used his connections to secure contracts or manipulate the system at city hall or within the provincial government.

Accurso faces an array of criminal charges related to the awarding of municipal contracts in the municipalities of Mascoucheand Laval, and he went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada to arguethat testifying would jeopardize his right to a fair trial.

Accursoand his companies are also charged with tax fraud.

• Tony Accurso says he was blacklisted by Pauline Marois's office