Article content

MONTREAL — A public inquiry endowed with wide-ranging powers will begin hearings on Tuesday into the inner workings of Quebec’s construction industry, and experts are warning the contents may not be pretty.

The long-awaited inquiry threatens to implicate dozens of businesses, local and provincial governments, political parties, and even explore links to organized crime.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Quebec corruption inquiry could expose links between Mafia, politics and construction Back to video

Given the size of the companies at the heart of the inquiry, its findings could also reach well beyond Quebec’s borders.

One of the central figures in the controversies that have beset the province in recent years is Tony Accurso, whose network of construction companies have dominated the public-contract market in and around Montreal.

Accurso was arrested last month on fraud and conspiracy charges relating to an alleged kickback scheme in a Montreal suburb.

His business empire has a heavy presence in Ontario and Alberta. Louisbourg Pipelines, a division of Simard-Beaudry Construction Inc., was responsible for building a section of TransCanada’s North Central Corridor pipeline in 2008.