Mascouche fraud trial to proceed despite delays

The trial of five people and two companies accused of fraud, fraud against the government and conspiracy in Mascouche will go ahead despite thelengthy delays in the legal process so far.

A Quebec Court judge turned down a request Tuesday by the accused to use a recent Supreme Court decision as grounds to have the case thrown out.

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Mascouche'sformer director general, Luc Tremblay, along with local businesspeople Normand Trudel, Andr de Maisonneuve, Rosaire Fontaine and Sylvie Chasswere charged in 2012 following an investigation by Quebec's anti-corruption task force, known as UPAC.

Also charged wereBPR Triax, an engineering firm, and Transport Excavation Mascouche, a construction company.

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The accused citedthe Supreme Court's so-calledJordan ruling, which establishes an upper limit on how long it should take for certaincases to come to trial.

A construction contractor,ChristianBlanchet, arrested as part of the sameUPACinvestigation intoMascouche, successfully used the Jordan ruling to have his charges thrown out last month.

Complex case, lots of evidence

In Tuesday's ruling, Judge Sandra Blanchard noted the accused had been waiting 59 months and 20 days for their trial, almost twice the limit set by the Supreme Court ruling.

But Blanchard also saidthe significant complexity of the case and the amount of evidence to be presented meant the delays were reasonable.

"It's a case that will see a large number of witnesses called, and there's also an enormous amount of evidence to present," said Crown prosecutor Pascal Grimard.

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He added that evidence was collected over a long period, from 2005 to 2012.

Pending the outcome of a separate motion, the trial is expected to begin inJoliettein January 2017.

Businessman TonyAccursowas also charged as part of theUPACoperationbut will undergo a separate trial.