We Spoke to the Guy Who Helped Shed Light on the Shady Dealings of Quebec's Construction Industry

Former construction boss Lino Zambito testifies before the Charbonneau inquiry in this image made off television in Montreal. Photo courtesy of The Canadian Press/Paul Chiasson

This post originally appeared on VICE Canada.

Yesterday, Canadian Justice France Charbonneau released her long-awaited report on the state of corruption in Quebec's construction industry. The 1,700-page document is the culmination of a $44 million , four-year inquest into the matter, an investigation that involved nearly 200 witnesses from the province's engineering firms, construction companies, and political circles. The conclusion? Corruption here is a deeply-rooted, widespread problem.

Alongside her 60-or-so recommendations to curb the culture of kickbacks and collusion, Charbonneau also thanked the key witnesses who helped shed light on all the shenanigans.

One of the men credited with setting the tone is construction boss Lino Zambito, a gregarious no-bullshit character who explained how his company had given money to political parties in exchange for public contracts. Zambito—who was the first to lay bare this vast network of mutual back-scratching—has since been charged with fraud and conspiracy and is now serving a two-year minus a day sentence on house arrest.

We reached him at home, obviously.

VICE: So, what do you think of the report?
Lino Zambito: Well, it's voluminous! The recommendations are there, and now the government has to put them into effect. Some recommendations have already been applied through laws that have been put in place verifies the licenses given to construction companies and I can tell you that an industrial quantity of people who have been named at the Charbonneau Commission are working and can bid on contracts in Montreal. So that's not very effective.

Your name is in the report more than 550 times. How's that for a legacy?
I haven't really leafed through it, I'm only hearing that from you. But the judge recognized my contribution. I'm not surprised it's come up so often—I invaded the municipal, the provincial, all the financing, I cast a wide net so it makes sense that my name would be there a lot. But that much, I'm still kind of surprised.

What's next?
I just want to turn the page, take care of my family, my kids, rebuild my life! I now work for a member of my family. The routine! I just want to stay out of the spotlight for a few years.

Follow Brigitte Noël on Twitter.

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