The municipal election in Lachute has a backdrop of lawsuits and allegations of collusion and shady dealings. Lachute was also hit by a tornado this year as well as being named the poorest municipality in Quebec. Candidates for mayor in the upcoming elections all have experience on council.

For the past four years, Carl Péloquin has been the mayor of Lachute, taking the reins from long-time mayor Daniel Mayer by winning the 2013 election by a few hundred votes. Carl Péloquin has submitted his candidacy for mayor and as did Daniel Mayer, who wants to return to the position to “move things forward.”

Mario Beaudin, current councillor for district 2, is also vying for the position and so is Marcelle Louis-Seize, councillor for district 1. Louis-Seize was forcibly removed from a closed-door caucus by then-Mayor Daniel Mayer who had called the police to remove her back in 2010. At that time, she was the only independent member of council. In defense of the forcible removal of an elected official from a caucus, Daniel Mayer said, in an article published in 2014 by the Montreal Gazette, that she asked too many questions and couldn’t understand the answers. Louis-Seize refuted these claims by mentioning her 36 years of experience in the treasury department.

In July 2014, current mayor Carl Péloquin had mandated Accuracy, a firm that investigates contracts, tenders and other transactions, to investigate dealings at the municipality, the Régie intermunicipale Argenteuil-Deux-Montagnes and the Régie intermunicipale de l’eau. The initial investigation fee was $24,999, which enabled the mayor to give the contract without opening a tender, but the invoices kept coming from the company.

According to Péloquin in an interview given to the Journal de Montréal in 2015, the investigation was of the utmost importance because he believed that the town and the régie’s transactions had too many questionable elements and required action. The initial report led to the firing of both the town’s director general and treasurer. Both are contesting their dismissal in front of the Tribunal administratif du travail in November.

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Regions and Land Occupancy (MAMROT) received a complaint about the contracts awarded, without using the tendering process, to firms for the investigation that has cost more than $500,000. The MAMROT also states that Mayor Péloquin did not have the required competence to give those contracts. It should have been done by elected officials and the council as a whole.

According to Péloquin, this investigation was much-needed and that he couldn’t go with tenders three months in advance for this type of investigation. He is surprised to see Mayer returning as a candidate for mayor when there is an active investigation with the Unité permanente anticorruption (UPAC) that involves past administration under his watch.

Although Lachute is in turmoil on so many fronts, election time is coming and candidates are reaching out to discuss their platforms.

Carl Péloquin

The main reason why Mayor Carl Péloquin wants to be reelected is to continue the economic development of Lachute, citing the new spa manufacturing facility which employs 27 people. He understands that online shopping has greatly affected small stores on Main Street. He mentions that his administration created more parking spots to continue the revitalization of Main Street in order to bring in more people.

“We worked hand-in-hand with stores to develop their online offer and make it an important part of their strategy,” says Péloquin.

He also wants to build a new arena, under Lachute’s supervision, to replace the two existing arenas, including the Brownsburg-Chatham arena, which has “run its course.” The new arena would be built between the Laurentian Regional High School and the Polyvalente Lavigne.

This new construction would enable school boards to create sports study program and fight high school dropout rates. He also wants to finish the library project in the old church.

“We have the wind in our sails and we must continue the work that we are doing now,” concluded Péloquin.

Marcelle Lafleur Louis-Seize

Marcelle Louis-Seize has completed two mandates as councillor since she retired from the treasury department of Lachute after 36 years of service. She mentioned many of the resources that Lachute has, like a great electrical system that can accommodate most industries, an airport, a more-than-adequate water system but says that the town is not being sold right.

Louis-Seize wants to reach out to potential investors so that the many empty storefronts and buildings can find tenants.

“We need a complete revitalization of Main Street,” says Louis-Seize. She urges that the town needs a creative strategy and to work with the Centre Local de Développement (CLD) and the MRC to find and retain potential investors all the while not neglecting local producers.

She also wants to finish the library project and build a structure for the outdoor ice rink which uses a camper for people to change in.

“We have to listen to the youth, if we listen to them they might want to stay after they are done school. I want to create a committee to create artistic projects and attract kids and schools to participate. We have to motivate kids.”

Mario Beaudin

Mario Beaudin, who is currently a councillor in Lachute, believes that, with imagination and the cooperation of the people, the council can give back the status that Lachute deserves.

“We have a lot of resources, we have two major roads, 12,000 residents, an arena, CLSC, a hospital, we have a lot of services even for 30 000 residents. People are saying we live in a dangerous town, we need to change that. We have turn-key buildings that we could offer companies to settle here. I can’t promise anything, but we need to move forward.

Mario Beaudin has a positive outlook about Lachute, but he insists that all the feuds have been demoralizing to some and that it has cost the taxpayers way too much money.

“We need to stop with all the bickering that is costing thousands of dollars. We need to move forward. I never wanted to hide anything, I said yes, do an investigation, but they did one with private companies that cost $1.5 million and now they sent it to UPAC anyways.”

“I’ve been a paramedic in Lachute for 35 years, I’ve lived here all my life and still work in that field 40 hours a week,” concluded Beaudin.

Daniel Mayer

“Going forward again,” is Daniel Mayer’s message to residents of Lachute. According to him, the past administration has done nothing right.

“A lot of projects are on ice, we have four investigations, the firing of a director general and a treasurer. The library, a turn-key project, is not moving. We also need to tackle water quality issues, nothing was done in the past four years,” says Mayer.

Mayer was mayor of Lachute for 22 years until he lost the 2013 election to Carl Péloquin.