MONTREAL - One-time prominent Liberal Jacques Corriveau wants Quebec Superior Court to throw out a lawsuit filed against him and his company in connection with the federal sponsorship scandal.
Corriveau's lawyers say in court documents filed in Montreal that he and his ad firm, Pluridesign Canada, never benefited improperly from federal contracts.
The court documents also say it is wrong to claim that he and his companies benefited from federal money in unison with Groupaction, headed by advertising executive Jean Brault, and Groupe Polygone and Expour, headed by hunting and fishing show promoter Luc Lemay.
The sponsorship program was set up to promote federalism following the slim No side victory in the 1995 Quebec referendum.
An inquiry into the program found that payments to the Liberal Party from Corriveau and nine ad firms totalled more than $2.5 million -- including at least $679,000 in illicit cash.
Corriveau has never been charged with any crime and denies any wrongdoing.
He says in his defence that the attorney general is responsible for the federal government and the actions of its political staff and civil service. In the 10-page motion filed Friday, Corriveau says that he never received any secret commissions nor did he ever misrepresent himself.
The document says Corriveau merely followed the practices set by Groupaction and Polygone/Expour.
The document says the federal government liberally and in a discretionary fashion, fixed the amounts attributed to him in relation to missing sponsorship cash.
In July, RCMP officers executed a search warrant on Corriveau's home on Montreal's South Shore in their continuing investigation into the sponsorship scandal.
Corriveau was a longtime friend of Jean Chretien who worked on the former prime minister's leadership bids in 1984 and 1990. At one time, Corriveau was one of the highest-ranking federal Liberals in Quebec.
Corriveau testified at the sponsorship inquiry in 2005. Justice John Gomery, who presided over the inquiry, said Corriveau was a key player in the affair.
"Jacques Corriveau was the central figure in an elaborate kickback scheme by which he enriched himself personally and provided funds and benefits to the (Quebec wing of the Liberal party)," Gomery wrote in his report.
Corriveau began his testimony with a warning that his memory wasn't very good. During Corriveau's testimony, some of his answers changed but on one point he was consistent: He denied any wrongdoing.
Several agencies have been targeted by a $40-million civil suit launched by the federal government and five people have been charged in the scandal.
