Laval residents chose to keep the same political formation at the head of the City on Sunday evening. Candidate Stéphane Boyer won Laval town hall, a victory declared before 9 p.m. At the time of this writing, he had garnered over 42% of the vote, out of all the ballots counted.
Dauphin of the outgoing mayor, MarcDemers, who did not stand for re-election after two terms, Mr. Boyer took the reins of the Mouvement lavallois party after having served as a councilor since 2013. The 33-year-old man relied on a “positive” message : “Laval is going in the right direction,” he insisted throughout this campaign.
This victory “is a testament to the satisfaction” of the Laval population, he declared to the To have toin the evening, shortly after the confirmation of his election. “We have made great progress in the environment, our economy is doing extremely well, governance and ethics are healthier,” he summarized.
Presented as a candidate for continuity, Mr. Boyer began his involvement in municipal politics in 2013 alongside Mayor Marc Demers. Quebec was still in the midst of the Charbonneau commission, and Laval was trying to dispel the bitter taste left by Gilles Vaillancourt’s 23-year reign. The former mayor was convicted of conspiracy, fraud and breach of trust.
A campaign in the shadow of the metropolis, in deficit of media coverage, and yet: the third city of Quebec for the number of inhabitants saw the candidates at the top of the list make ambitious promises in the environment. Stéphane Boyer promised in particular to invest $ 100 million in the acquisition and protection of natural environments. He also praised the city’s progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The party had also gathered the support of the ecologist and researcher Laure Waridel, who would become its special advisor on ecological transition.
The mayor of Laval is among the best paid in Quebec. Mr. Boyer had pledged to reduce his salary by $ 30,000 in the event of victory.
During the campaign, he also united with the candidate for mayor of Longueuil Catherine Fournier to demand measures to fight the housing crisis. Access to housing and priority remains “a clear priority” said Mr. Boyer Sunday evening, “because it is often the biggest expense a family has to make in a lifetime.”
Disinterest of citizens?
A CROP poll conducted for Radio-Canada showed that 56% of Laval residents polled were still undecided at the end of October. In 2017, the participation rate of 36% was below the provincial average, while it was 42% in Montreal and 44.8% for Quebec as a whole. The advance polling rate was also up in Laval this year.
A few weeks before the vote, the future mayor was followed by two other candidates, Michel Trottier, from the Laval Party, and Sophie Trottier, from Action Laval. The other candidates in the race were Michel Poissant, from Laval citizens, Nicolas Lemire, independent, Pierre Anthian, from My city now, as well as Hélène Goupil and Redouane Yahmi, both independent.
In an interview, Stéphane Boyer said he was watching closely the other races of his party in each of the districts: “We have a parity and culturally diverse team, and we hope to deliver a municipal council representative of the population of Laval. “
He will be sworn in next Saturday, November 13, 2021, the day of his 34e birthday.