Denis Coderre says he knew nothing of illegal funds sent to Liberal riding association while he was MP

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderresays he has always abided by the rulesfollowing revelations that his Liberal riding associationreceived $1,000 in illegal funds from SNC-Lavalin while he was theLiberal MP for Bourassa.

His Montreal-area riding association was one of several Liberal and Conservative riding associationsthat received illegal donations from the engineering giant between March 9, 2004 and May 1, 2011, according to the federal elections commissioner.

• DenisCoderre'sriding association received illegal funds
• SNC-Lavalinviolated election rules with campaign donations

"I have always done things in accordance with the rules,"Coderresaid.

The mayor maintains that he acts in amanner that is open and transparent, adding that he wasn't aware of the donations until the report from the commissioner was released.

"We're talking about $1,000, but I don't even know what date and everything," Coderre said. "We're all learning this atthe same time."

Contributions reimbursed

In all, nearly $118,000 in donations were made by SNC-Lavalin in violation of the Canada Elections Act to Liberals and Conservative riding associations,as well as to candidates in the 2006 Liberal leadership race.

The disclosure was made as part of a compliance agreement between the engineering giant and the independent federal agency.

According to the agreement, former senior executives with the Montreal-based company solicited employees to make political contributions, and in some cases, those employees were reimbursed with refunds for false personal expenses, fictitious bonuses or other benefits totalling $117,803.49.

The commissioner said the political parties reimbursed the contributions to the Receiver General of Canada.