Outgoing police chief Brochet also thanked at December meeting of Laval city council
The December meeting of Laval city council began on a somber note, with city councillors and members of the audience observing a minute of silence in memory of former city councillor Jocelyne Frédéric Gauthier who passed away in November at age 69 at Laval’s Cité-de-la-Santé hospital.
A minute of silence
The three-term councillor for the district of Auteuil had been under treatment for cancer for a year. She had been one of the initial supporters of the Mouvement lavallois which came to power in Laval city council in 2013 around five years after the party was first created.
Flags in front of Laval city hall on Souvenir Blvd. (currently closed for extensive renovations) were placed at half-mast in recognition of Frédéric Gauthier’s passing.
“Up to the moment of her last breath, Jocelyne was able to take care of the needs of her citizens, while being the mother of her two grown-up sons and while being there for the whole community,” said Cecilia Macedo, speaker and president of the city council. “Thank you for all your work, dear Jocelyne,” she continued. “You were a pioneer.”
Police chief’s departure
During a period for new business and councillors’ special statements, Saint-François city councillor Isabelle Piché noted the recently-announced resignation and departure of Laval Police Dept. director Pierre Brochet after 12 years service.
Brochet, whose functions with the LPD end officially on January 9, is going to work for Mouvement Desjardins where he has been hired as vice-president of corporate security.
“Normally the career of a police officer lasts 30 years,” said Piché, a member of the Action Laval opposition party. “Mr. Brochet is now in his 40th year of service, including 12 with the Laval Police. It’s been a long and marvelous career for a policeman.”
While noting that Brochet began work in Laval in 2012 when the city had been placed under trusteeship, she said he learned to navigate within that environment and led the police in Laval “with great skill and great wisdom.
Left his mark on department
“I think we’re going to be losing a great leader for our police,” added Piché. “Mr. Brochet, the Laval Police service will carry your mark for a long time, I am certain. I wish you the greatest happiness and success in the new challenge that awaits you.”
Also paying homage to police chief Brochet was Mouvement lavallois city councillor for Sainte-Rose Flavia Alexandra Novac.
“We can affirm proudly that he showed great leadership within the organization,” she said, noting that it was Brochet who created the Bureau d’intégrité et d’éthique de Laval (BIEL), which was one of the measures instituted by the Mouvement lavallois as part of an anti-corruption undertaking.
“On behalf of the municipal council, we thank you Mr. Brochet for your remarkable work,” she added.
Dead-end on Cyrille-Delage
During the public question period, Daniel Guilbault from the district of Auteuil led a group of a dozen property owners from rue Cyrille-Delage to table a petition asking the city to open up a portion of their dead-end street where there has been no development for several decades.
In a statement Guilbault read out to the mayor and council, he noted that Laval city council enacted loan by-laws for the street in 2004, while passing on the expense to nearby property owners to pay for the installation of stormwater and wastewater sewer pipes.
“The owners have paid between $2.5 – $3 million in taxes over the past 21 years and you continue to tax us,” said Guilbault. “The owners have a right to receive services for the taxes they contributed. In my work as an accountant, I have to tell you right up, this type of situation is considered legalized theft.”
Not in the PTI budget
He went on to ask Mayor Stéphane Boyer why the development of rue Cyrille-Delage is still not included in the city’s three-year public works spending budget (PTI). Responding, the mayor explained that the PTI doesn’t always provide detailed street-by-street information for public works projects.
He suggested that Councillor Ray Khalil, who is vice-president of the executive-committee and responsible for development dossiers, meet with Guilbault and the other residents in order to become better acquainted with their situation.
