Mayor Stéphane Boyer announces new executive-committee
Earlier this week, newly-elected Laval mayor Stéphane Boyer announced the four city councillors who will be sitting on the executive-committee, as well as three others who will sit as associate executive-committee members.
“I am particularly proud of the quality of the people that we have been able to bring together,” Mayor Boyer said in a statement issued on Monday. “I can assure you that our committee will always be listening to the needs of the population, while also delivering projects bringing people together for the Laval community.”
The city says that further executive-committee appointments will be announced in the coming weeks. According to the city, the appointments to the new executive-committee managed to achieve gender parity (four men and four women, including Mayor Boyer). Here is the layout for the new executive-committee:
| Ray Khalil Vice-president, responsible for infrastructures. | Transport and traffic, roads maintenance, snow removal, major projects. |
| Nicholas Borne Full member, proximity services. | Parks, arts and culture, sports and leisure, major events. |
| Sandra Desmeules Full member, administrative and corporate services. | Public security, public finance, hman resources, information technology. |
| Christine Poirier Full member, development and management of territory. | Environment, waste management, economic development, urban planning. |
| Aline Dib Associate member. | Intercultural relations, social development, citizen services. |
| Sandra El-Helou Associate member. | Senior citizens. women, youth. |
| Alexandre Warnet Associate member. | Ecological transition, citizen participation. |
In addition to this, Mayor Boyer announced two more changes to procedures at Laval city hall affecting city councillors. (However, the administration says the changes will be applied only on a case-by-case basis.)
- The mayor’s office will be holding meetings-of-the-whole, involving all Laval city council members regardless of political affiliation, more frequently before executive-committee meetings.
- Opposition members will be invited more often to take part in executive-committee meetings involving specific districts when those councillors are directly affected.
Acccording to the mayor, his administration and the executive-committee wished to extend a hand of friendship to the opposition councillors by making its decision-making processes more transparent and accessible to them.
Laval invites residents to submit ideas for upcoming budget
Members of the City of Laval’s newly-elected administration are inviting all residents to submit their ideas as to how the city should be spending its money next year, or even how it might achieve better savings, as Laval prepares to table its 2022 budget at city hall.
A pilot project announced by the city last August now allows everyone who lives in Laval to participate in the formulation of the budget. The city is using $600,000 from a surplus to facilitate the pre-budget consultation.
“With this citizen participation tool, Laval residents will be directly involved in the decision-making for projects that will be taking place near us,” says newly-elected mayor Stéphane Boyer. “They have a chance to influence what will be taking place on the territory while deciding on the use of public space.
“We feel certain that the knowledge of areas that the citizens have will lead to inspiring and creative ideas. I feel that this will allow the population to feel involved in the decisions that we take for them, and henceforth also with them.”
There are two ways to submit an idea: (1) Fill out a short form online from Nov. 18 to Jan. 30. (2) Register and participate in virtual idea workshops on Jan. 18, 24 and 26. According to the city, projects that will be seriously considered are those in line with socially-responsible commitments subject to certain criteria.
Among other things, they must be planned so as to take place somewhere public or on a municipal property, be within an estimated cost of $10,000-$50,000, and be line with general policies of the municipality. Additional information is available on the city’s website.
