New Laval party starts public consultations

A new Laval municipal party that was created before last fall’s municipal elections said Wednesday it will hold public consultations over the next several weeks. The decision to get out in the community in Montreal’s largest suburb and conduct a systematic reading of public opinion signals another step in the evolution of the party, Mouvement lavallois, which is rooted in Laval’s growing linguistic and ethnic diversity.

The party’s leader, Lydia Aboulian, is a 27-year-old Sotheby’s real-estate agent and former Concordia University student. In last fall’s municipal vote in Laval, she placed second in the mayoralty race, gathering 23 per cent of votes. But her party didn’t win a seat in council. Veteran Mayor Gilles Vaillancourt’s Parti PRO des Lavallois won all 21 seats for the third election in a row since 2001. On the other hand, last November’s voter turnout in Laval was 36 per cent, one of the lowest recorded in the 2009 municipal elections across Quebec. Beginning next Wednesday, the party will hold six public-consultation meetings through Dec. 8, seeking input on policies related to neighbourhood life, public safety, public transit, the environment, and sports and recreation. All six meetings are begin at 7 p.m.

"We have been preparing for this for a long time," Aboulian told a news conference yesterday. "We’ve been getting a lot of calls. People have questions and they are starting to see us as an alternative at city hall." The party was formed in May of last year by David De Cotis, a Via Rail project manager. Aboulian was named its mayoral candidate in September. Like De Cotis, she is a native Montrealer. Aboulian, who grew up in St. Laurent, has lived in Laval for 12 years while De Cotis has lived there for 11 years.

Last May, the party held a first-anniversary brunch at the Embassy Plaza reception centre in Chomedey and attracted 300 people who paid $20 each. The party claims 600 members, three times the number it says it had during last November’s election campaign. It was after Vaillancourt’s Parti PRO swept every seat in Laval in 2005 that De Cotis says he started thinking about trying to build a credible opposition at city hall. Vaillancourt has been mayor since 1989. Ever since last November’s election, Aboulian and De Cotis have dominated question period at Laval council meetings, something that has helped raised their profile in local media. "If you have a question for a councillor, they just hang their heads and then look up at the mayor to answer for them," De Cotis said. "It’s one man’s will in Laval," said Aboulian, who is of Armenian origin and studied in French at the elementary and secondary levels.

Speaking of the coming consultations, Aboulian said: "Who are the voters in Laval? This is the question for us. Only 30 per cent voted in the last election. Who are the other 70 per cent? This 30 per cent who did get out to vote, maybe they are just the mayor’s own little network."