MONTREAL – Quebec’s premier calls the situation “terrible and disheartening and sad.”

Pauline Marois has commented on her government’s decision to put a major city under trusteeship.

She confirms Laval will fall under provincial control, following a cabinet meeting later today.

The scandal-plagued municipality, just north of Montreal, is the third-largest in Quebec.

Its former mayor is accused of running the city like a criminal racket and now faces gangsterism charges.

Now, the new interim mayor is alleged to have also taken part in illegal party financing. He has denied the allegation, levelled last week in testimony at the Charbonneau inquiry.

But this latest scandal to hit the city was enough for the government to impose trusteeship. That means the provincial government will get final say over municipal decisions.

At the moment, three municipalities are under trusteeship in the province but none is nearly as big as Laval, the sprawling suburb across the river north of Montreal.

Trusteeship will mean:

—The province’s municipal commission exercises supervisory powers over local decisions.

—No decision of the municipal council will enter into force until the commission approves the minutes of the meeting at which it was taken.

—The municipal budget will require the approval of the commission to enter into force.