On Friday, November 9, Gilles Vaillancourt resigned after 23 years as mayor of Laval and almost 40 years in municipal politics.
“Today I am speaking to everyone who lives in Laval,” he said. “I’m speaking to the people who have supported, encouraged and trusted me throughout my political career and to all others that I have the honour and responsibility to represent. I’m speaking to you all today for the last time as Mayor of Laval. I have decided to step down and to retire from politics permanently.”
The mayor denied all wrongdoing in the allegations he is facing. “As for me, I would like to assure the people of Laval that I have always acted in their interest thinking first and foremost of their wellbeing and that of their family.”
He didn’t mention the Parti du Ralliement Officiel (PRO) des Lavallois political party, but instead talked about the changes he has seen in Laval since he began his career in municipal politics only eight years after 14 smaller municipalities were combined into one city.
Among the successes that Vaillancourt mentioned were: maintaining 30% of the city’s land agricultural; holding a better Standard and Poor’s Rating than the Government of Quebec and Hydro Quebec [this was true in May but changed in July when Standard and Poor’s gave Hydro Quebec’s debentures an AA minus rating which matches their rating for Laval; both are higher than the Government of Quebec’s A plus rating]; three metro stations and a new bridge; a University of Montreal campus; and excellent finances, with a residential tax rate that’s 2.5% lower than inflation and the ability to pay cash from its operating budget for $50 million in infrastructure renewal annually.
As he put it: “today Laval is no longer the bedroom community of the early days. It has progressed quickly on the road to success becoming the third largest city in Quebec and the strongest growth centre in the Montreal Metropolitan Community notable by its vitality, its competitiveness and by its quality of life.”
To see the English version of the speech posted by The Gazette, refer to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD3NMOoghbM.
Note: This article appeared in the North & East version of the Suburban on Thursday, November 15.
