Ski director who hired Bertrand Charest continued business relationship after coach fired

• Fighting off ex-ski coach's advances 'emotionally draining,'witness testifies
• Woman saysChareststuck his hands down her pants when she was about 16

Nivoixtestified he never received complaints or heard rumours about sex allegations against the former coach before 1998.

He said whenCharestwas fired from Alpine Canada in 1998, he never knew the full extent of what was alleged against him.

"All we had to go on were rumours,"Nivoixtestified.

He added he has "no personal links" toCharestand that their relationship was "strictly professional."

"I never ate with him, never had a beer with him, never went to his house,"Nivoixtold the court.

During his testimony on behalf of the defence,Nivoixglossed over his role as a lawyer forCharestafter the accused was fired in 1998.

Nivoixsaid he had metCharestin person to go over documents between the year 2000 andCharest'sarrest in 2015 and that he had seen the former coach in passing on a few occasions.

He also testified he went to seeCharestin jail "about five or six times" to look at documents unrelated to the arrest.

During cross-examination, Crown attorney Caroline Lafleur made Nivoix delve further into his business relationship with Charest.

Nivoixsaid he received two legal mandates to representCharest'sglass company between 2000 and 2016.

"They were just two mandates,"Nivoixsaid. I wasn't being paid on a retainer."

Nivoixsaid he metCharestabout four times in person between 2000 and his arrest 15 years later.

Jail records Lafleur showed the court indicated he also visited Charest 10 times in jail between July 2015 and February 2016.

In his earlier testimony,Nivoixsaid his regional ski association hiredCharestin the early 90s to help Quebec regain its skiing pride.

Quebec had lost the headquarters of the country's national ski association and the provincial ski industry wanted to show off its athletes on the national and international stage.

"(Charest) was the only one during the (job) interviews who told us how to get there," he said. "We wanted to be known in Canada."

Nivoix'sown daughter lived for two years at a ski school run byCharestinMont-Tremblant, Que., in the mid-'90s.

He said he often visited the school, which was set up in a large home and housed roughly 10 students at the time.

"The ambience was warm," he said. "My daughter never mentioned anything was going on."

One of the students at that school testified earlier in the trial thatCharesthad pulled her out of the home on several occasions and brought her to his house for sex.

LafleuraskedNivoixwhat his daughter thought of him testifying on behalf of the defence.

"She told me she preferred I didn't," he said.

The defence will present its third witness Wednesday morning.