A former political organiser for Union Montreal, Mayor Gerald Tremblay's political party has dropped a new bombshell at the Charbonneau Commission.

He says Mayor Tremblay himself knew that contractors and engineering firms were giving his party cash.

Having established yesterday that there appeared to be a lot of cash circulating at Union Montreal headquarters between 2004 and 2006, notably with an anecdote about a safe that was so stuffed with cash it wouldn't close, former union Montreal party organizer Martin Dumont today testified about how fundraising events worked within the party.

Dumont participated in about 40 such events.

At one event, he says, a construction company executive invited Dumont to the bathroom, where he handed him an envelope he told him contained $10 000 in cash.

The maximum amount for tickets to such events never exceeded $1000.

Dumont says he saw many anonymous cash donations at Union Montreal fundraising events generally attended by Mayor Tremblay.

When asked why, point blank, he didn't tell the mayor about illegal contributions, Dumont finally testified that the mayor already knew.

An angry Tremblay, who was quizzed by reporters about the allegation before tabling the city budget on Tuesday, denied the allegations, calling them ``completely false.'' 

Photo: Canadian Press