Stéphane Boyer, runner-up to outgoing mayor Marc Demers, won on Sunday evening, allowing the Mouvement lavallois to retain control of Laval city hall after a three-way fight that turned out to be less close than expected. .
With 41.3% of the vote, he beat his two main opponents, Michel Trottier, leader of the Parti Laval, who obtained 25.2% of the vote, and Sylvie Trottier, head of Action Laval, with 24.2% of the votes. voice.
His victory was confirmed shortly before 9 p.m.
At 33, Stéphane Boyer became the youngest mayor in the history of Laval.
“I receive this victory as a vote of confidence,” he told Press, at the Carlos & Pepe restaurant-bar in Laval, where the party had made an appointment with its supporters.
“My greatest pride, and by far, yes, there are projects, yes, there are regulations, but me, it is really the team that we have built”, he added in his victory speech in front of an overcrowded hall.
The new mayor of Laval, Quebec’s third largest city, will also have a strong team on city council, as his party has won 14 of the 21 councilor positions. Action Laval had five councilors elected and Parti Laval had two elected.
In the district of Renaud, the fight was extremely close: 37.1% for the party of Sophie Trottier and 37.60% for the party of Stéphane Boyer.
“It’s bad! I was expecting a lot more than that with the campaign we did, ”said Press Michel Trottier, visibly disappointed.
“Suspense until the last minute”
These results may come as a surprise. The only poll conducted during the Laval election campaign, CROP – Radio-Canada, predicted a close three-way fight. Mr. Boyer, with 14% of the voting intentions, was slightly ahead of his two opponents, who each collected 11% of the voting intentions. What was surprising, however, was the very high proportion of the undecided, 56%.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Supporters of Stéphane Boyer gathered at the Carlos & Pepe resto-bar, in Laval
With such a rate of undecided voters, it is not surprising that the voter turnout rate was so low. Less than 30% of the 311,562 registered voters turned out to vote. This participation rate is lower than that observed in 2017, i.e. 36.3%.
I was pretty sure that the Laval Movement would win the election. But there was only one poll, with many undecided. We were sailing a bit blind. So, it was suspense until the last minute.
Stéphane Boyer, new mayor of Laval
Even though his party remains in power, his victory contrasts with that of his predecessor, Marc Demers, who, in 2017, won 19 of Laval’s 21 districts and obtained 46% of the vote.
By bringing the Laval Movement to power for a third term, the citizens of Laval are part of a well-rooted tradition, that of an attachment to continuity, coupled, as we see with the participation rate, to a certain indifference. in municipal political life. Recall that the former mayor Gilles Vaillancourt, convicted of fraud in 2016, reigned for 23 years at the head of Laval, from 1989 to 2012.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Marc Demers, former mayor of Laval, succeeded by Stéphane Boyer
“I’m happy,” responded Mr. Demers, who spent the evening at Carlos & Pepe. “It’s the fruit of the work we’ve done over the past eight years, because it’s been a team effort. Stéphane Boyer has done a colossal job as vice-president of the executive committee and deputy mayor. So the people recognized it. ”