Financial allegations a smear: Tremblay

Allegations of illegal campaign financing by his party are a smear campaign, the mayor of Montreal says.

As the municipal election campaign in Montreal officially got underway Friday, Grald Tremblay confirmed the province's chief electoral office (DGEQ) is probing allegations of illegal financing by Union Montreal between 2001 and 2007.

Details of the investigation were published in the daily La Presse newspaper.

According to the report, the DGEQ sent investigators to a dozen borough offices across the island searching for old invoices from Octane, a Montreal public relations firm. The electoral office launched its investigation following allegations that Octane invoices had been sent to the boroughs without any services rendered.

The DGEQ retrieved invoices in several boroughs, including Saint-Lonard and Verdun, with the full co-operation of local officials, La Presse reported.

The newspaper said the DGEQ is looking into claims that in Oct. 2004, a high-ranking official with the Montreal Island Citizens Union party (MICU), now known as Union Montreal, asked officials in Outremont to help the party pay a $15,000 debt owed to Octane for services rendered during the 2001 election campaign.

The money allegedly couldn't be paid by MICU because it contravened the law putting a cap on spending by political parties during an election campaign.

The newspaper said it had obtained a copy of a $9,202 bill from Octane, sent to the borough's director, Pierre Chapuis, on Oct. 26 2004.

Pierre Hurtubise, a spokesman for Octane, confirmed the company was hired by MICU, but denied bills had been sent to the boroughs.

The DGEQ declined to comment on the investigation.

Tremblay denies allegations

Responding to questions from reporters, Tremblay said the allegations are untrue.

"It means that a lot of people are nervous, and the only way that they can challenge us is by finding, or saying, allegations that are false," the mayor said.

Tremblaysaid he was surprised the information had been made public, noting the chief electoral officer usually keeps information regarding current investigations confidential.

Tremblay said he would not let the issue get in the way of his campaign.

"No administration has done more for Montreal than our admimistration in the past eight years," the mayor said. "I'm convinced we'll have the confidence of Montrealers."

City needs reboot: Vision Montreal

In another development, the opposition Vision Montreal party unveiled its campaign slogan "Restart Montreal, " which the party's second in command said is a computer analogy.

Official opposition leader Benot Labont said when a computer is slow, "the files are corrupted. There are no other solutions than to reset and restart."

Labont said he would use Monday's city council meeting the last before the municipal election to table two motions.

The first motion will call for the adoption of an ethics code, while the second will demand the appointment of an ethics commissioner for Montreal.

A provincial working group studying the question of municipal ethics has already submitted several recommendations, but Labonte said they did not go far enough.

Tremblay wants ethics adviser

Tremblay said his first order of business Monday would also be to adopt a code of ethics.

The mayor is proposing council name an ethics adviser who would not have the power to issue sanctions, but could provide councillors with advice.

Executive committee chairman Claude Dauphin said the ethics adviser would work alongside a provincial ethics commissioner expected to be named by the Quebec government.

Dauphin said the administration will meet with representatives from Vision Montreal on Monday to see whether a compromise can be reached.