Liberal benefactors face fines

Quebec's Chief Electoral Officer has chargedfive people for thousands of dollars worth of illegal donations to former Quebec Liberal Party deputy premierNathalie Normandeau.

The illegal financing was done atan Oct. 2008 event, reads anews release from the elections watchdog.

The people named were allegedly involved in a straw man, or prte-nom, schemein which they donated money to the party with money other than their own.

The people being fined by the director-general of elections are:

• Normand Lefebvre, director of Pluritec Ltd.
  Three infractions for helping three employees make three contributions of $1,000
• Michel Perrault, Mascouche
  Two infractions for helping Yanick Dion and Lucien Laroche contribute $2,500 each
• Yanick Dion, Montreal
  One infraction for donating $2,500
• Rjean Bergevin, Laval
  One infraction for helping Martin Lord donate $1,500
• Carole Archambault, Laval
  One infraction for donating $1,500

Each accused has 30 days to respond to elections officials.

Normandeautold Radio-Canada that she had no connectionto the fundraisingscheme.

"Not only is this affirmation false, but all the Liberal fundraising events I took part in, I did only as a guest speaker," she said.

"This is a serious accusationmy reputation, and my integrity are at stake," she said.

Her lawyers are also working to get her name removed from the Chief Electoral Officer's press release.

According to a Radio-Canada exclusive report released last month, the former deputy premier and MNA for the Bonaventure riding in the Gaspwas targeted in a search conducted last July by Quebecs anti-corruption squad, UPAC.

Last year, ex-construction boss and Charbonneau commission star witness Lino Zambito named Normandeau at the corruption inquiry.

During his testimony, Zambito alleged that Normandeau accepted bribes from him and said he organized a fundraising event for her in in January 2008 in Laval. It was attended largely by his peers in the construction and engineering business, who paid $5,000 a head for the dinner that he said Normandeau herself attended. The law at the time limited individual donations to $3,000 for each candidate and party.

Zambito said the January 2008 dinner raised $110,000.

Normandeau vigorously denied Zambitos assertion that she could be swayed by bribes Zambito gave her, like Cline Dion concert tickets. Zambito said she and her friends attended the concert in Zambitos familys private box at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Each person named today by the director-general of elections will be fined $500 on top of the amount of their donation. If they plead guilty or are convicted, they will not be permitted to win public contracts held by the director-general for a period of three years.

Couillardquestions links toNormandeau

Liberal leader Philippe Couillard sought to shieldNormandeau from the Chief Electoral Officer'slatest fines.He said her presence at the 2008 event does not mean that she had anything to do withthe straw man scheme.

"People donating money have been sanctioned by the [Chief Electoral Officer]following an event that involved her presence," he told reporters. "It doesnt mean that she herself was personally involved or she has anything to account for. Theres an important distinction."

Couillardalso reminded reporters that it was the Liberals who brought in a law banning straw man schemes in 2011.