Michel Gravel was a Progressive Conservative party

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada

The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....

 member of the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

. He was a businessman and company head by career.

Gravel was elected in the Gamelin electoral district

Gamelin (electoral district)

Gamelin was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1988. This riding was created in 1966 from parts of Maisonneuve—Rosemont and Mercier ridings...

 in the 1984 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1984

The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada...

 and served in the 33rd Canadian Parliament

33rd Canadian Parliament

The 33rd Canadian Parliament was in session from November 5, 1984 until October 1, 1988. The membership was set by the 1984 federal election on September 4, 1984, and it only changed slightly due to resignations and by-elections prior to being dissolved before the 1988 election.It was controlled...

. He left federal politics after this term of office and did not campaign in the 1988 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1988

The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....

.

He was charged with bribery and fraud in 1986 after confessing to the receipt of $75,000 from businesspeople who were seeking federal government business. In December 1988, he pleaded guilty to these charges and was sentenced to a $50,000 fine and a year in a Montreal prison in February 1989. On 31 March 1989, correctional officials released him to a halfway house

Halfway house

The purpose of a halfway house, also called a recovery house or sober house, is generally to allow people to begin the process of reintegration with society, while still providing monitoring and support; this is generally believed to reduce the risk of recidivism or relapse when compared to a...

 citing good behaviour, with full parole to begin that June.

Gravel later alleged before a Quebec Order of Engineers tribunal that fellow Progressive Conservative member Roch La Salle

Roch La Salle

Roch La Salle, PC was a Canadian politician who served in the province of Quebec. He spent 18 years as a Federal Member of Parliament. He represented the riding of Joliette...

 had also received bribes for government contracts. This led to criminal charges for two other Conservative Members of Parliament, Gilles Bernier

Gilles Bernier (Quebec politician)

Gilles Bernier, MP is a former Canadian politician and diplomat. He was the Member of Parliament representing the riding of Beauce from 1984 to 1997, initially as a Progressive Conservative and later as an Independent...

 and Richard Grisé

Richard Grisé

Richard Grisé was a member of the Canadian House of Commons. He was a businessman and life insurance broker by career....

.

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