Elections Canada has released some key data from the 45th Canadian federal general election, which took place on Monday, April 28.

This election saw the Liberal Party of Canada secure a fourth consecutive mandate. Mark Carney’s party won 169 seats, which is not enough for a majority. It leads the Conservative Party of Canada (144), the Bloc Québécois (22), the New Democratic Party (7), and the Green Party of Canada (1).

According to preliminary data from Elections Canada, 19,583,016 Canadians voted in this election, representing a turnout rate of approximately 68.65%. This is the highest rate since 1993.
In comparison, 62.6% of voters cast their ballots in 2021, 67.0% in 2019, and 68.3% in 2015.

An estimated 11,062,539 voters cast their ballots at their polling station on election day or in their long-term care facility. 7,280,975 voters voted in advance polls. 928,311 voters used a special ballot to vote in their riding, while 215,057 voted by special ballot outside their riding. 57,440 voters cast their ballots from abroad using a special ballot.

In total, 16 registered parties supported candidates, and 1,959 candidates were confirmed.

In the months following the election, Elections Canada will release the exact figures in the official election results report and will publish additional official reports.

“I want to thank the approximately 230,000 people who contributed to the smooth running of the election. Whether voters cast their ballots on election day, in advance polls, or by special ballot, election workers were there to serve them and to uphold the integrity and secrecy of the vote,” said Stéphane Perrault, Chief Electoral Officer of Canada.

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L’article Federal Election | Highest Voter Turnout Since 1993 est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

As of April 7, the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) is on track to win a majority of 192 seats in the federal election scheduled for Monday, April 28.

This data comes from the Qc125 polling aggregator.

This would represent an increase of 30 seats for the LPC compared to the last federal election held in September 2021. It would also mark a fourth consecutive mandate at the head of the country for this political party.

The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) is in second place, with a projected 125 seats—six more than four years ago.

The Bloc Québécois (BQ) is projected to come in third with 16 seats, ahead of the New Democratic Party (NDP) and the Green Party of Canada, which are expected to win 9 and 1 seats respectively in the next Parliament.

The BQ and the NDP are the main losers from the LPC’s recent surge in the polls, as these projected seat counts represent a loss of 16 compared to their 2021 results.

Furthermore, according to Qc125, the Liberals are projected to win the most seats in 10 of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories. Only Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba are currently leaning in favor of the Conservatives.

In Laval

According to the polling aggregator, all four ridings in Laval are expected to remain Liberal following the current election.

Indeed, each of them is projected to have over a 99% probability of victory for the Liberal candidates.

Marc-Aurèle-Fortin is the riding with the closest race. Qc125 projects an LPC win with 55% of the vote, ahead of the BQ (20%) and the CPC (19%).

It’s worth noting that Laval’s four ridings—Alfred-Pellan, Laval—Les Îles, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, and Vimy—have all elected LPC candidates in every election since 2015.

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L’article Liberals Leading According to Qc125 Aggregator est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

The only official reaction to Girard’s 7th budget from the City did not come from the mayor’s office but from the opposition party, Action Laval.

In a statement released on March 27, City Councillor David De Cotis and mayoral candidate Frédéric Mayer lamented Laval’s absence from the 2025-2026 provincial budget priorities and placed the blame on Mayor Stéphane Boyer’s administration.

“Laval is nowhere to be found in this budget,” said De Cotis, criticizing the mayor’s “inability” to defend Laval residents’ interests in Quebec City. “It’s time for a change in direction to build a city that finally gets its fair share,” he added.

Action Laval had hoped for concrete measures in areas such as transportation—particularly regarding a potential extension of the Orange Line—housing, and healthcare infrastructure.

“By letting crucial opportunities slip away, the mayor has turned his back on Laval families who need affordable housing, efficient public transit, and solid infrastructure,” concluded Frédéric Mayer, who is calling for the construction of a second hospital in Laval.

“We Continue to Fight…”

Asked to respond to Action Laval’s allegations, the mayor’s office sent the following statement to Courrier Laval:

“As the administration of Quebec’s third-largest city, we work closely with the governments of Quebec and Canada to carry out major ongoing projects that improve Laval residents’ quality of life. Despite a difficult economic context and a historic provincial deficit, we continue to fight every day to secure the fair share of investments that Laval deserves. Laval residents can count on our determination.

Meanwhile, the opposition prefers to engage in partisan tactics rather than serious work. Their inconsistency is obvious: at City Hall, they systematically oppose projects for which we have secured government funding. Criticizing without proposing solutions is neither credible nor responsible.”

(Additional text to follow)

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L’article Girard Budget: Nothing for the Region Says Action Laval est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

The interim leader of Parti Laval, Claude Larochelle, denounces “maneuvers to silence the opposition,” which he accuses the ruling party, led by Mayor Stéphane Boyer, of orchestrating.

In a statement published on March 20 under the title Censorship and Intimidation at the Municipal Council, Mr. Larochelle revisits the events surrounding the last municipal meeting.

“[…] Parti Laval has been targeted by two unprecedented actions aimed at hindering its work and limiting citizens’ access to information of public interest,” he writes.

Cease and Desist Letter

In the hours leading up to the March 11 council meeting, Claude Larochelle and Louise Lortie were formally served a cease and desist letter by the Mouvement lavallois – Équipe Stéphane Boyer, demanding that they “immediately delete the three Facebook posts from February 14 and 18, 2025, and immediately cease reporting defamatory statements.”

These posts followed reports from TVA Nouvelles, Le Journal de Montréal, and Le Courrier Laval concerning the findings of an investigation launched by the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec (DGEQ) in the aftermath of the November 24, 2019, by-election in the Marc-Aurèle-Fortin district.

Five years later, Elections Quebec reached the same conclusions that had been denounced at the time by the leader of Parti Laval and elected candidate in that by-election, Michel Trottier: the Mouvement lavallois, then led by former mayor Marc Demers, engaged in fraudulent electoral maneuvers.

This included unauthorized partisan advertisements not approved by the party’s official agent, which violates the Act Respecting Elections and Referendums in Municipalities (LERM), exceeding the allowable campaign spending limit, and failing to report these expenses in the electoral expense report submitted by the official agent.

At the mayor’s office, the cease and desist letter is justified by the assertion that “freedom of expression does not grant the right to say just anything,” while also claiming that “Parti Laval’s statements deliberately seek to mislead the public by spreading false and defamatory remarks.”

Notice of Proposal Deemed Inadmissible

At the resumption of the municipal session, which had been adjourned the previous evening, Mr. Larochelle read a notice of proposal requesting that Stéphane Boyer’s party fully reimburse the City for the $13,000 spent on partisan advertisements during the 2019 election period. He also demanded the return of approximately $100,000 in advertising expenses that the party allegedly had reimbursed since the last election through the research and support fund for elected officials. This sparked the ire of Mayor Boyer.

“[…] Stating that all expenses incurred to date were illegal is incorrect. The letter from the DGEQ concerned the by-election and the law governing it,” responded Stéphane Boyer, deeming it “unacceptable to let such doubts linger.”

Regardless of whether it was an election period or not, Mr. Larochelle argued that the Mouvement lavallois’ advertisements did not comply with the regulation governing the reimbursement of research and support expenses for Laval city councillors, which explicitly excludes costs related to partisan messaging. “That is my claim, and we will have the opportunity to discuss it next month,” he stated, only to later learn that his notice of proposal would be deemed “inadmissible.”

Indeed, at the request of councillor and executive committee member Nicholas Borne, council president Cecilia Macedo immediately suspended the meeting to consult with the general management and the legal affairs department to assess the admissibility of the notice.

“The notice is non-compliant and inadmissible as written,” she ruled about forty minutes later, citing “harm to reputation” and adding that “this is not the appropriate forum to make such a reimbursement request.”

Council decisions are final and cannot be appealed, reminded Christine Poirier, also a member of the executive committee, quickly shutting down Claude Larochelle’s claims. He, in turn, accused the mayor’s party of “arbitrarily restricting [his] right to speak, refusing any debate on the issue, and attempting to silence the opposition.”

The mayor’s team, asserting that “the municipal council is not a tribunal,” defended Ms. Macedo’s decision based on Article 13 of the regulation governing deliberative assemblies, which grants her all necessary powers to fulfill her duties and uphold the rights and privileges of the Council.

“Parti Laval submitted a notice of proposal that was deemed inadmissible as a matter of law […] due to its defamatory nature,” they wrote in an email exchange, further accusing the opposition party of engaging in “petty partisan politics.”

As for Claude Larochelle, he has no intention of backing down. “If the mayor thinks that by censoring us he will suppress the debate, he is mistaken,” he concluded, vowing to “continue his efforts to bring full transparency to the use of public funds for partisan and electoral purposes.”

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L’article Censorship and Intimidation Denounced at the Municipal Council est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

Action Laval leader Achille Cifelli and the party’s mayoral candidate, Frédéric Mayer, are appealing to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Andrée Laforest, to block a $3M loan bylaw adopted at the last municipal meeting.

This bylaw, passed by a vote of 12 to 5, aims to cover the costs of implementing a new Human Resources Information System (HRIS) at the Société de transport de Laval (STL) to replace an aging software system.

“I am ashamed to see the current administration cutting services for seniors, cutting jobs at STL, reducing service on several bus lines, yet spending $3M on HR software,” Mayer stated in a press release on March 19. “This is how they are managing the increase they imposed on vehicle registration fees.”

Action Laval considers this expense unnecessary, dismissing Mayor Boyer’s explanation that the current software will no longer be supported by its developer by the end of 2026.

“[…] The company was acquired by another that could provide an update at a significantly lower cost. Moreover, 97% of the $3M budget consists of labor costs,” the opposition party argues.

Decision-Making Process

According to Article 123 of the Public Transit Corporations Act, STL’s board of directors can authorize a loan through a bylaw—which it did on November 25, 2024—but the loan must be approved by the municipal council before receiving final approval from the Minister of Municipal Affairs.

“There is a serious lack of judgment from the mayor and his team,” Cifelli said. “That is why we have decided to call on Minister Laforest, the last line of defense in this decision.”

Debate

During the debate preceding the vote at the March 11 municipal meeting, Parti Laval city councilor Louise Lortie criticized the lack of collaboration among transit agencies for this type of service, arguing that cooperation could have helped reduce costs.

In response, Mayor Boyer quoted STL’s General Director, Josée Roy, explaining that, due to contractual reasons, public transit operators in Greater Montreal were not allowed to pool resources in this case. He also reaffirmed his full confidence in Ms. Roy.

In its statement, Action Laval condemned “the lack of concrete solutions from the mayor’s team,” accusing them of “increasing expenditures without exploring all possible options.”

However, on March 12, during the resumption of the municipal meeting that had been adjourned the previous day, STL board vice-president and councilor from the mayor’s party in L’Abord-à-Plouffe, Vasilios Karidogiannis, stated that “all options were still on the table” until the contract was awarded at the end of the summer. He even suggested a meeting with his critic, David De Cotis, inviting the Action Laval councilor to share his “ideas” and “expertise” on possible software solutions.

As for the $3M loan bylaw, Mayor Boyer noted that the amount was determined based on cost estimates from STL’s management. He emphasized the “urgent need” to replace the public transit agency’s human resources management software.

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L’article The Opposition Calls on the Minister to Block a $3M Loan to STL est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

The municipal election campaign is officially underway.
Midweek, the opposition group Action Laval called a press conference to confirm the mayoral candidacy of its deputy chief of staff, Frédéric Mayer.

Mayer wasted no time in criticizing Mayor Stéphane Boyer’s administration and the elected officials of the Mouvement lavallois, a party he describes as “worn out by power,” claiming that their “third term” would be “one too many.”

Budget in Focus

If elected on Sunday, November 2, Mayer’s first move will be to establish a multiparty commission on public finances to “clean up the various City departments.”

The goal is to “review each budget” and “reevaluate each project” to better “control spending,” explains the mayoral candidate. He accuses the current administration of “plunging the City into debt with flashy projects” at the expense of “basic services.” As evidence, he points to the deficiencies in the sewage system, citing approximately 1,750 untreated wastewater discharges into the environment in 2023.

“Just to maintain the existing network, we will need to invest $620 million over the next five years,” he argues.

No Tax Freeze Planned

Less than a year ago, his colleague David De Cotis, leader of Action Laval on the municipal council, called for a tax freeze in 2025, without success. Will Frédéric Mayer make this an electoral promise for 2026?

“[…] As long as we are not in control of the budget and do not fully understand what is happening, we naturally cannot make such announcements,” he responds.

Yet in 2021, Action Laval’s mayoral candidate, Sophie Trottier, promised Laval residents a property tax freeze for four consecutive years.

“We were in a completely different economic situation. The municipality’s debt has increased by $400 million—an 80% rise in just four years,” Mayer justifies, citing the tens of millions in surpluses the City was generating annually. “There was room; now there isn’t.”

He continues: “Before talking about a freeze, we will focus on financial control. If we can keep it below the inflation rate, so much the better.”

This marks a break from the party’s tradition, which, since its founding in 2013, has consistently promised tax freezes or even reductions, as seen in 2017.

Need for Major Infrastructure

Regarding Laval’s rapid population growth—approaching half a million residents—Mayer asserts that “Laval cannot continue to grow without completing the metro loop [Orange Line] and building a second hospital.”

With high-rise buildings sprouting in the downtown area, Laval reportedly ranks 15th out of 17 administrative regions in Québec for hospital beds per capita.

“I will fight to ensure Laval receives the help and support necessary to implement the projects our city deserves,” vows the mayoral candidate, who also pledges to seek a meeting with Regional Minister Christopher Skeete as soon as possible to discuss these issues.

From Campaign Organizer to Candidate

During the last municipal elections, Frédéric Mayer served as a campaign organizer for Action Laval. He later joined the party’s cabinet and became its spokesperson in late summer 2024, succeeding Nayef Mustapha. At that moment, he was certain he would enter the mayoral race in 2025.

After months of consideration, the events surrounding the August 9 flood became the “catalyst for action,” he explains, seeing it as a clear example of a “municipal administration completely disconnected from the needs of Laval’s residents.”

Six months later, he officially announced his candidacy for mayor of Laval.

A native of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul and active in municipal politics for over 15 years, Frédéric Mayer holds a Ph.D. in public administration from ENAP in Montreal, where he now “teaches the issues and principles of our governments and administrations.”

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L’article Action Laval Candidate Frédéric Mayer Wants to Restore Order to City Finances est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

The American rating agency S&P Global Ratings has renewed Laval’s “AA+” credit rating for the fourth consecutive year.

This is the best rating granted to any municipality in Quebec, reflecting sound financial management and a strong economic position.

For Mayor Stéphane Boyer, this rating demonstrates responsible public financial management that “allows us to provide high-quality municipal services to residents while also investing in transformative infrastructure for the future,” he stated in a press release on November 20.

Moreover, the agency forecasts stable prospects for Laval, despite a global economic climate marked by uncertainty, the City highlighted.

Excerpts

Here are three excerpts from the seven-page report published by S&P Global Ratings on November 20:

• Despite the projected increase in Laval’s debt, we anticipate that the City will maintain sufficient liquidity to meet future debt service needs.
• The stable outlook reflects our expectation that Laval’s tax base will continue to support the city’s operational performance, maintaining stable liquidity and keeping its debt burden manageable.
• We forecast that during the period covered by the prospective analysis, Laval will continue to generate stable tax revenues from its property base, more than sufficient to offset expenditures.

As part of this annual credit rating evaluation process, the City of Laval indicated that it submitted to the rating agency its forecasts for the current fiscal year (2024), as well as preliminary versions of the operating budget for the upcoming year and the three-year capital program (PTI 2025-2027), which was adopted on November 13.

“The S&P Global Ratings report published on November 20, 2024, reflects the agency’s expectations for the most likely scenario for 2024, 2025, and 2026,” clarified Carolanne L. Gagnon, Public Affairs Advisor for the City, in an email.

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L’article Laval Maintains Its AA+ Credit Rating est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

The City of Laval has announced improvements in the handling of citizen requests, along with several other initiatives utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the efficiency of its municipality.

“We would like the City of Laval to be the most efficient in Quebec,” stated Mayor Stéphane Boyer during a press conference held on Thursday, October 17. “We have growing needs. We want to respond to the challenges facing our society, our community, and our citizens, but our revenues are limited. In my opinion, efficiency may not be the only approach, but it is definitely the best way to ensure we can go as far as possible.”

Starting in November, the City will provide detailed follow-ups to citizen requests in its handling of inquiries. This decision comes after the success of a pilot project that has been active internally for a year.

From that point on, municipal staff will be accountable at three levels: the response time, the time to first action, and the time to resolution.

All of this data has been analyzed for the first time to produce an estimate of the resolution times for requests in the city’s eight main areas of action.

For example, the resolution time for traffic calming measures is estimated at 60 days, while it would take 21 days to repair a streetlight.

This process has been conducted for a total of 630 different citizen requests. The results will be displayed on the city’s website as well as on 311.

The portal presenting current data along with a comparison to the previous year will be visible to all municipal employees.

The reports will allow the municipality to assess the effectiveness of its teams and adjust their approach as needed, with a goal of continuous improvement.

Virtual Assistant

The City of Laval has also equipped itself with a virtual assistant for 311, again aiming to enhance operational efficiency.

“Citizens want to be heard, understood, but most importantly, we need to accurately capture their needs so they don’t have to call us two or three times or travel to address their request,” said Tania Fonrose, Director of Citizen Experience for the City of Laval.

This robot will be able to transcribe phone calls received at 311 into text, summarize the exchange, make suggestions related to the type of request to create, and ensure the quality of customer service.

The AI will also suggest which service to route the request to so that it gets to the right place quickly.

This will allow staff to focus more on active listening and build a trustful relationship with citizens in need.

On the Ground

The City of Laval processes more than 120,000 invoices from over 10,000 suppliers each year.

To increase the percentage of invoices paid within 30 days from 57% to 80%, the Office of Organizational Performance has implemented an automation tool using AI to process these documents.

The software can read invoices, ensure that all necessary information is present, and send them to the appropriate department.

With its help, the administrative team estimates it can double the number of invoices processed each week and eliminate repetitive tasks from its agenda. The Office aims to reinvest the recovered time into skill development.

Finally, the City has launched a pothole detection system involving AI as well as remotely operated robotic lawnmowers.

These innovations are already operational, with the first under each municipal vehicle cruising the roads of the region, and the second at the Nature Center in Saint-Vincent-de-Paul.

Even though AI is often synonymous with outdated labor, Stéphane Boyer was very clear that no human resources will be replaced by these new technologies.

L’article Laval Uses AI to More Effectively Address Citizen Requests est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

Four days after the disclosure of a reimbursement of approximately $5,800 for life coach training in 2023, municipal councillor Alexandre Warnet broke his silence. In a post on his Facebook page on September 24, the Laval-des-Rapides councillor shared his “version of the facts to set the record straight and make amends.”

From the outset, he acknowledged that “the past few days have been difficult,” which may explain his noticeable absence the previous day during the unveiling of the architectural concept for the cultural megacomplex and its groundbreaking in the heart of his electoral district.

Appearance of Conflict of Interest and Reimbursement

Mr. Warnet stated that he “immediately accepted” the request from his leader, Mayor Stéphane Boyer, to repay the entire amount to the City of Laval. “I do believe that no appearance of conflict of interest should remain, and I intend to demonstrate my integrity and good faith with this action,” wrote Mr. Warnet, who submitted a check for $5,820.61 to the city’s treasurer yesterday.

The appearance of a conflict of interest referred to by the councillor stems from his role as a “coach in professional and personal development” at a career and business coaching consultancy, where he also serves as vice-president and co-owner. This situation, uncovered by TVA Nouvelles on September 20, had prompted a reaction from the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Andrée Laforest. The minister and the Quebec Municipal Commission (CMQ) then agreed to expand their investigation into Alexandre Warnet’s expenses—opened 48 hours earlier—into opposition councillor Paolo Galati’s allegedly unjustified expenses from the research and support budget available to elected officials.

Explanation

Alexandre Warnet stated that the goal behind this $7,760 training was to “develop leadership and managerial skills as an elected official” and that he “never intended to use public funds for private purposes.” He clarified: “My intention was directly related to my work as an elected official, and only the training modules relevant to skills useful for elected officials were subject to partial reimbursement, as stipulated by Quebec law and its related regulations.”

In this regard, Mr. Warnet pointed out that “the knowledge gained and the skills developed during this training serve [him] every day in [his] work as a municipal councillor.” During the training, he said he developed “a strong interest in professional coaching, which made [him] want to nurture [his] potential as a personal and professional development coach. Therefore, [he] decided to offer professional coaching services outside of [his] work hours as an elected official.”

Alexandre Warnet declined our requests for an interview.

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L’article Councillor Alexandre Warnet Breaks Silence on Controversy Involving Him est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier English School Board President Paolo Galati will not seek re-election for another term.

This announcement comes after the launch of an investigation by the Commission municipale du Québec (CMQ) on Wednesday, focusing on the reimbursement of unjustified expenses that Mr. Galati received in recent years as a municipal councillor for Saint-Vincent-de-Paul.

“Given the current context, I do not wish for my role as a municipal councillor to affect the Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier School Board, to which I have dedicated much energy over the past ten years and which is particularly close to my heart. I have therefore decided not to run as a candidate in the upcoming school elections to be held on November 3, 2024.”

It is worth noting that the nomination period for the school elections will open next Tuesday, September 24.

Still President Until November 13

In the statement released by the English school board yesterday afternoon, Mr. Galati added: “Moreover, to avoid disrupting the governance and administration of the Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier School Board, I will, for the time being, step back from some public duties associated with my role as school board president.”

He will remain president until his successor is sworn in during the board of commissioners’ meeting on Wednesday, November 13.

That said, Vice-President Melissa Wall is expected to chair the next council meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, September 25.

“I have proudly and with integrity represented the people of my [school] district in Laval, as well as the Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier School Board, for over a decade,” noted Paolo Galati, adding that “to this day, [he has] maintained a flawless record in public service.”

Track Record

Mr. Galati served as president of St. Vincent Elementary School from 2008 to 2014 before being elected as a school commissioner in 2014.

In the fall of 2018, the board of commissioners elected him president of the school board following the resignation of Jennifer Maccarone, who had been newly elected as an MNA for Westmount–Saint-Louis under the banner of the Quebec Liberal Party.

Regarding the reimbursement of expenses he received as a municipal councillor, which has led to the current controversy, Paolo Galati stated that he has “requested that [his] expenses as a municipal councillor be re-examined by the Finance Department of the City of Laval” and that he will act “accordingly” based on the decision rendered by the municipal treasury.

“Neither Mr. Galati nor the Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier School Board will make any further comments,” concluded the statement.

Also to read:

L’article Paolo Galati Withdraws from Upcoming 2024 School Elections est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.