André Lavallée was convicted in 1971 of participating in a robbery
According to an exclusive report in La Presse, André Lavallée, the vice-chairperson of Montreal’s executive committee and the mayor of the Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie borough, was once a member of the FLQ, going so far as to participate in a robbery to finance the group. In 1971, a 19-year-old Lavallée was active in the Michèle-Gauthier cell of the separatist organization and acted as a lookout when a fellow member robbed a bingo hall in Montreal. The operation turned out to be a dismal failure. The cell had been infiltrated by police, who organized the robbery but forewarned the priest in charge of bingo night in the church basement. As a result, Lavallée and his three compatriots made off with a paltry $31.90 and a few bingo cards. All three were fined $25 for their roles in the incident, but came away without a criminal record. The Keable commission, which inquired into police misconduct during the October Crisis suggested it was “stunning” that “on the one hand, police tried to stop the members of the Michèle-Ouimet cell from fleeing by shooting six rounds at them, while on the other, the sentence requested by the crown wasn’t exemplary.”