Richard Grisé (born 15 January 1944 in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

) was a member of the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

. He was a businessman and life insurance broker by career. He represented the Quebec riding of Chambly where he was first elected in the 1984 federal election and re-elected in 1988, therefore becoming a member in the 33rd and

34th Canadian Parliament The 34th Canadian Parliament was in session from December 12, 1988, until September 8, 1993. The membership was set by the 1988 federal election on November 21, 1988, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it wa ...

s. He did not seek a third term in the House of Commons.

Trial and resignation

Grisé was a Progressive Conservative member of the House of Commons, but left that party on 18 April 1989 and sat as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. He left federal politics entirely after 30 May 1989 following his conviction. Richard Grisé pleaded guilty to 11 counts of corruption, fraud and breach of trust. He was sentenced to one day in jail, $20000 in fines, and probation for three years. He was replaced by

Phil Edmonston Louis-Phillip Edmonston (26 May 1944 – 2 December 2022) was a Canadian consumer advocate, writer, journalist, and politician. Along with Andrew Scheer, he was one of the few politicians with dual American and Canadian citizenship to be electe ...

following a 12 February 1990 by-election in the riding.

Second trial

In June 1990, MPs Richard Grisé and Gilles Bernier were each charged with four counts of defrauding the House of Commons and breach of trust. While parliamentary rules prevent MPs from hiring members of their own family, they are not prevented from hiring another member's relatives. Grisé and Bernier were accused of having hired each other's children in an attempt to circumvent this rule and provide them with bogus jobs. According to the RCMP, Bernier had ostensibly hired Grisé's son Bruno as a researcher, and in return, Grisé had hired Bernier's sons Gilles junior and Maxime. None of the three sons had done any of the work for which they were hired, though they were generously paid. In April 1994, Bernier was acquitted. Grisé pleaded guilty to two counts of breach of trust and fined $5000.

References

External links

* 1944 births Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Independent MPs in the Canadian House of Commons Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs People from Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville Canadian politicians convicted of fraud Corruption in Canada {{ProgressiveConservative-Quebec-MP-stub