Bernard Trépanier, key figure in Charbonneau commission, dies

Bernard Trépanier, a former municipal party fundraiser known to some as "Mr. Three Per Cent," has died, his lawyer confirmed.

Trépanier worked for former mayor Gérald Tremblay's now-defunct political party, Union Montréal.

He had been diagnosed with cancer and was in palliative care.

He was alleged to have asked for a three per cent cut from engineering firms for city contracts they won, which is how he earned his nickname, according to witnesses who appeared before the Charbonneau commission into corruption in the construction industry.

He was facing charges including fraud and breach of trust in two cases — the Faubourg Contrecoeur construction project and Projet Fronde, an investigation by Quebec's anti-corruption unit into an alleged municipal contract scheme.

In June, Quebec's Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) ordered a stay of proceedings in both trials because Trépanier was receiving palliative care.