Federal and city elections, U.S. tariffs and crime made 2025 an exciting year
It was the year of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, as well as elections in Laval and across Canada, and a steep rise in local urban violence and crime. Although far from telling the whole story, these three themes offered many of the defining moments for news stories that broke in 2025.
In our first issue of 2026, The Laval News takes a look back at these and other important newsmakers up to June last year. In our next issue, we will examine the following six months.
Justin Trudeau resigned as PM in January
On January 6 last year, Justin Trudeau announced he would resign as Liberal leader and Prime Minister of Canada by March 24 upon the election of a new party leader.
In his resignation speech, Trudeau stated that party dissent would prevent him from campaigning effectively in the 2025 federal election. Trudeau, who had served as Prime Minister since 2015, stated he would remain as PM until the Liberal Party selected a new leader.
His decision came after a period of increasing pressure from within the Liberal Party and from the public, largely due to his handling of various issues, including the rising cost of living, internal party conflicts and recent controversies.
Reaction from at least one of the Laval-area’s Liberal MPs was quick following the news of Trudeau’s decision. “He did the right thing,” Vimy Liberal MP Annie Koutrakis said in a phone interview with The Laval News minutes after the announcement.
She said she advised her constituency association caucus members the previous week of her decision to join other elected Liberal MPs in publicly recommending to the prime minister that he should step aside. “And many of my colleagues agreed with me,” she said.
Although the City of Laval’s 2025 elections were set to take place in early November, incumbent mayor Stéphane Boyer was saying little at the beginning of the year on whether he would be seeking a second term.
One of the only allusions made by the mayor to the upcoming elections came during his opening remarks – which were unusually brief – at the January 2025 city council meeting.
“I wish a happy new year to all our citizens,” was almost all he said. “And I take the opportunity to wish you in this municipal election year that you have exchanges which are constructive and calm for the best interests of the residents of Laval.”
For a seventh consecutive year, members of more than 40 Tamil community organizations gathered at the Château Royal in Chomedey to celebrate the contributions of Tamils since their arrival in Canada.
More than 1,000 guests, including representatives from a number of other multicultural communities as well as elected officials from the three levels of government, took part in the admission-free celebration.
Lunch and refreshments were provided. It was a great opportunity to learn and network with fellow leaders and organizations within the Tamil community of Quebec.
Among the guests were a number of prominent as well as local elected officials.
