MONTREAL - Alfonso Gagliano, the former cabinet minister who was in charge of the federal program linked to the sponsorship scandal, is mulling a run at the mayor's office in a Montreal borough.
The ex-public works minister said Friday he would consider vying for the soon-to-be vacant mayor's seat in east-end St-Leonard. However, Gagliano said it would take a supportive nudge from within the community for him to step back under the political microscope.
"Yes, I said I would consider it, but right now there is nothing so I don't want to talk about it," he told The Canadian Press.
"I'm not considering anything for the time being."
The 66-year-old, a St-Leonard resident since the 1970s, served as a federal Liberal MP in the local riding from 1984 to 2002. He held various cabinet posts under Jean Chretien between 1996 and 2002.
Gagliano said he has not been active in the community since his political career ended.
A Montreal weekly newspaper which used to publish a column by Gagliano was the first to report he is thinking about a run for borough hall.
St-Leonard borough mayor Frank Zampino, the right-hand man of Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay, has announced he will step down in July.
As public works minister in the late 1990s, Gagliano was responsible for the program geared to promote federalism in Quebec.
Gagliano, who has never faced criminal charges in the sponsorship scandal, was removed from cabinet by Chretien before being named ambassador to Denmark.
Former prime minister Paul Martin pulled Gagliano out of Copenhagen in 2004 and booted him out of the party.
A 2005 report by Justice John Gomery said Gagliano and Chretien shared some responsibility for millions of dollars being skimmed by Liberal-friendly ad agencies for the program.
Gomery's inquiry found that some of the cash was siphoned back to the federal Liberals.
Gagliano has said he did not know about the fraudulent spending in his department but has accepted political responsibility for the fact it happened.
He is suing the federal government for wrongful dismissal for losing the ambassador's job.
Former Liberal organizer Benoit Corbeil last month became the sixth person to be arrested in connection with the sponsorship scandal.
The Mounties say the investigation is ongoing.
