No Kingsway Entertainment District bribes, says Sudbury councillor

Contrary to some media reports, Sudbury Ward 3 Councillor Gerry Montpellier said nobody offered him a bribe to support the Kingsway Entertainment District (KED).

The major development — expected to feature a casino, hotel, and publicly-funded arena along Sudbury's Kingsway — was first proposed by Sudbury developer Dario Zulich in 2015, but has been embroiled in legal matters and controversy. Montpellier, said some media outlets misinterpreted a recent Facebook post in which he explained his reasons for abstaining from votes around the KED matter. In the post, Montpellier said representatives who worked for Dario Zulich and Gateway Casinos and Entertainment Limited, approached him to make the case for the proposed project. "They said, 'this is going to be good for your business,'" Montpelier said. "And I look back and I say, 'are you freaking kidding me? You're saying this to a city councillor?' I said, that's it, I can't vote on this, that's just not ethical. And that was it." Montpellier has long been involved in motorsports, and runs a company in that sector that could benefit from the development. He has abstained from votes related to the KED due to that potential conflict of interest. In an interview with the CBC, Montpellier maintained the two individuals who approached him never offered a bribe.