Union Montreal loses another member

As yet another Union Montreal member abandoned the party Wednesday, slightly less than 24 hours after 125 police officers raided city hall, six boroughs controlled by Union Montreal and their head offices, the head of the party said allegations against a few individuals were tainting the entire organization.

Gilles Déguire, the mayor of Montreal North, announced he was leaving the party, Leader Richard Deschamps confirmed Wednesday. Deschamps could not confirm why Déguire was leaving, but said the party was going through tumultuous times that were difficult on many of its members. Union Montreal, which ruled Montreal politics for 11 years and had 38 seats after the 2009 elections, has dropped to 18 seats since November after allegations of corruption surfaced.

“The positive actions of several people over the course of many years is sadly being stained by what’s happening with these investigations,” Deschamps said. “I’m for the investigations, and if there were illegal acts I will be the first to denounce them. But the allegations are against just a few people — it’s always the same names. It’s not all of Union Montreal.”

Deschamps said staff collaborated with police during their search, and said he believes they took copies of certain files that were kept on computers, but was not certain because he was not there.

Anjou Mayor Luis Miranda, whose borough hall was also raided Tuesday, said in a statement Wednesday he and his employees co-operated with police and supplied any paper or computer documents requested and responded to questioning. Miranda said he did not feel targeted by the investigation because police were asking questions related to the financing of Union Montreal during a period when he was sitting as an independent. Miranda sat as an independent from 2003 to 2008, then joined Union Montreal.