The Crown says the fraud-related trial of ex-deputy Quebec premier Nathalie Normandeau and five co-accused will likely be held in early 2018 and last at least four months.
Claude Dussault said outside a Quebec City courtroom Tuesday he has a list of 139 potential witnesses, although not all will necessarily testify.
READ MORE: Former Quebec deputy premier Nathalie Normandeau arrested in anti-corruption sweep
Normandeau, 49, is charged with conspiracy, corruption, breach of trust and fraud in a scheme in which political financing and gifts were allegedly exchanged for lucrative government contracts between 2000 and 2012.
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WATCH BELOW: Former Quebec deputy premier among seven arrested for corruption
She and six others were arrested in March 2016.
READ MORE: ‘No one is above the law,’ Quebec City politicians react to Normandeau arrest
One of the seven, ex-Parti Québécois political aide Ernest Murray, recently pleaded guilty to counselling a criminal offence that was not committed.
READ MORE: Quebec deputy premier Nathalie Normandeau quits politics
Normandeau served as a Liberal member of the legislature for a riding on the Gaspé peninsula from 1998 to 2011 and held key cabinet positions as well as being deputy premier from 2007 to 2011.
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