He was for many years the owner and publisher of Les Nouvelles de l'Est and also became assistant to the president of Hebdos Télémédia in the late 1980s.

Tremblay's party, now renamed as Union Montreal, again won a majority on council, and Blanchard continued to serve as an opposition member.

[7] Tremblay resigned as mayor in November 2012 amid the backdrop of a growing corruption scandal, and Michael Applebaum was chosen by council as his successor.

The new mayor had previously announced that the committee chair would be non-partisan, and so, as a condition of his appointment, Blanchard resigned from Vision Montreal to serve as an independent member.

[10] Michael Applebaum resigned as mayor on June 18, 2013, after being charged with fourteen criminal offenses including fraud and corruption; he maintains that he is innocent.

[2] Following the vote, Projet Montréal leader Richard Bergeron commented, "With Laurent Blanchard, we have the assurance that we will have no unpleasant surprises to be afraid of.

In August 2013, Blanchard reluctantly announced that municipal contracts for infrastructure renewal would go to SNC-Lavalin and BPR, firms that had previously been cited at the Charbonneau Commission for alleged bid-rigging.