I don't think you will find any such terms used in the letters that I sent. It is true that I sent a lot of letters. I learned something very early in politics, Mr. Petit, which is that you have to know how to work with people, whatever your opinion of them. Just because we may have a certain opinion of each other doesn't mean we would not agree to cooperate. So, yes, I decided I would cooperate with Mayor Vaillancourt as long as he held that position and as long as the many allegations against him had not been proven. Mr. Vaillancourt had a great many qualities. He was the person most familiar with the issues in Laval. He had exceptional political experience and we talked about these things.
At the end of each session, I would spend several hours, several days in a row, writing to all my senior officials, colleagues, Laval City counsellors and the mayor as well. What I said in those letters—which were personal letters that were very much appreciated and won me outstanding cooperation, not only from elected officials in Laval, but in my department as well—was what I thought.
In a way, I didn't say everything I was thinking, but what we had accomplished together and the expertise he had shown in dealing with the issues and things like that, were probably things that I highlighted. It was in that context that those letters were sent.