Union leader Dominique B�rube�s April 2003 drug conviction came after officers raided a warehouse in Montreal�s north end

A plumber hired to lead a Quebec construction union local in 2006 was convicted in 2003 of running a clandestine marijuana grow operation that was shuttered after a Montreal Urban Community Police raid, a QMI Agency investigation has found.

Union leader Dominique B�rube�s April 2003 drug conviction came after officers raided a warehouse in Montreal�s north end in 2002 and discovered 530 marijuana plants inside.

Berub� pleaded guilty to one count of marijuana production � not drug trafficking. That move later allowed him to lead any union local in Quebec, despite the facts of his case.

Despite widespread concerns among Quebecers about convicted criminals infiltrating the construction industry, only convicted drug traffickers � not large scale grow�op producers � are barred from holding union office for five years after their sentences under what is called R-20, the law governing work in Quebec�s construction sector.

B�rub� declined to discuss his drug conviction.

��I have nothing to say about that,�� he told a QMI Agency reporter by telephone.

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