Michael Applebaum

Michael Applebaum ( born February 10, 1963 in Montreal ) is a Canadian politician and businessman. He was from 1994 a member of the City Council of Montreal. From November 2012, he served as interim mayor until he was forced to resign as its predecessor on corruption charges in June 2013.

Biography

Applebaum grew up in the then independent suburb of Saint- Laurent. He worked in the shoe shop of his parents and opened as a 18 -year-old his first clothing boutique, when he was studying at Dawson College. Later he took over the shoe business and became real estate agents. He has close ties with the Jewish community of the city and publicly supports Israel's policies. In 1994 he ran for the local grouping Parti des Montréalais in the city council elections and was elected in the constituency of Notre- Dame-de- Grâce. After the dissolution of the party in 1995, he remained politically active as an Independent. From 2002 to 2012, he officiated also as mayor of the borough Côte -des- Neiges -Notre- Dame-de- Grâce.

In January 2009, Applebaum was appointed by Gérald Tremblay, the city executive. He joined the local party Union Montréal and was in charge of sports and leisure. As Tremblay resigned on November 5, 2012 on charges of corruption, Applebaum was considered a promising candidate for the nomination as candidate of the Union Montréal. However, the choice of the party fell to Richard Deschamps, allegedly due to insufficient knowledge of French. Applebaum came immediately from the party and ran as an Independent. On 16 November 2012, the City Council elected him as interim mayor, where he sat down by 31 to 29 votes. Apple tree was thus the first anglophone mayor since Henry Archer Ekers in 1908 and the first Jew in this office. He announced that he would not take to the mayoral elections in November 2013.

On June 17, 2013, the anti -corruption unit UPAC Applebaum arrested in his apartment. He will be laid 14 charges to the load, including fraud, conspiracy, breach of trust and corruption in city affairs. The his alleged offenses are related to construction projects in the years 2006 to 2011, when he was borough mayor. The following day, Applebaum gave his resignation as mayor known, he stressed that the charges against him lacked any basis. In October 2013 surfaced documents to prove that the corruption cases date back to the year 2002.