Montreal ex-mayor set to testify at corruption probe

MONTREAL - Montreal's former mayor is set to testify at the Quebec corruption inquiry.

Gerald Tremblay has been, to date, perhaps the highest-ranking political casualty resulting from the probe.

He will get to offer his version of events when he testifies, as early as tomorrow.

The former mayor will appear after the current witness, his former right-hand man, completes his turn on the stand.

When he resigned last fall, Tremblay said he had wanted to testify while still in office so that he might have a chance to defend himself. But he said inquiry officials had their own schedule and they wouldn't let him appear earlier.

The mayor wanted to respond to allegations from a former aide that he knew about illegal financing in his political party — and ignored it.

That allegation was politically devastating to Tremblay, who had spent years proclaiming his ignorance of such wrongdoing.

But there has since been another wrinkle: the former aide whose testimony so damaged Tremblay, Martin Dumont, has admitted that he made up some details in other parts of his testimony.

As a result, the mayor's accuser has come under considerable scrutiny. Dumont has worked in a number of political roles — at city hall, for Tremblay's Union Montreal party, and in Ottawa for various offices in the Harper government including the Prime Minister's Office.