Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay (L) with André Lavallée as mayor presented his new executive committee on January 26, 2009. Photograph by : Pierre Obendrauf, Gazette File

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MONTREAL - Montreal executive committee vice-chairperson André Lavallée says he was once a member of the Front de libération du Québec, according to a media report.

Lavallée admitted he took part in FLQ activities in 1971, the year after an FLQ cell kidnapped and killed then Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte, La Presse reports.

Then 19, Lavallée participated in the robbery of $31.90 at a bingo game in a church hall, the newspaper says. He and his accomplices were arrested and fined.

Lavallée, who is mayor of the Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie borough, said he was surprised his past has now been dredged up and made public, La Presse reported. He said he had never tried to conceal his association with the FLQ, which grew out of his political beliefs at the time.

Lavallée said he told Mayor Gérald Tremblay about his FLQ past on Wednesday morning, and insisted that he had the confidence of the mayor.