Veteran district rep blames decision on the party’s mayoralty candidate choice
For elected as well as unelected members of the Action Laval opposition at Laval city hall, longtime Chomedey city councillor Aglaia Revelakis’s announcement that she was abandoning the Action Laval caucus was as unexpected as it was astonishing.
Three terms in office
Revelakis was one of the first Action Laval city councillors to be elected in 2013 after former mayor Gilles Vaillancourt’s monopolistic grip on Laval city council had finally been broken.
Since then, she won clear majorities in three elections, while retaining a large and reliable base of support for Action Laval from within her territory.
Before entering Laval municipal politics, Aglaia Revelakis gained political experience as a key organizer for councillor Mary Deros’s many election campaigns in Montreal’s Parc Extension district.
Kept Action Laval alive
When Action Laval’s political fortunes were reduced at one point almost to nil, Revelakis remained a reliable supplier of voter support. The Chomedey district could always be counted on to bolster Action Laval’s share, based largely on Aglaia Revelakis’s consistent popularity with voters.
At one point, when the party’s fortunes flagged, Revelakis was the lone Action Laval councillor left on city council, and she managed to hold the fort until Action Laval got back its strength.
During the February 4 council, Revelakis read out a few routine community announcements, before finally getting around to dropping the bombshell about leaving the party.
Announced in Council
“As of today, I will no longer sit as municipal councillor with Action Laval,” Revelakis said, adding that she was giving up her membership in the party at the same time.
“Moving forward, I will sit as an independent councillor to continue representing and serving my citizens of Chomedey who have supported me over the past eleven years,” she continued.
“It has been a privilege and honor to represent them at city hall and I think them for their confidence. The citizens of Chomedey are and will continue to be my priority. Chomedey will always be my priority.”
In a phone interview last week with The Laval News, Revelakis suggested that her decision was closely related to her disagreement with the party’s choice of Frédéric Mayer as mayoralty candidate for the November 2 elections.
Not the right one, she says
“That is my choice and my belief,” she said. “Everybody is allowed to believe whatever they want. I have to go with what I believe. And I don’t believe he was the right candidate.”
She said she was never consulted when a decision on a mayoralty candidate was being made. Although she is registered with Élections Québec as one of Action Laval’s two “dirigeants” (directors), she maintained she was never asked.
“As a dirigeant, I should have had some say in this, but I didn’t even have a say in whom they were going to choose,” she said. “This is who they wanted, this is what they wanted, so I said okay, thank you, no problem, I’ll just walk away, that’s all.”
Difficult choice for Revelakis
In the last three City of Laval elections, Revelakis consistently drew around 50 per cent voter support. She said she found her decision to leave Action Laval was difficult, but “I had to go with my beliefs.”
When asked whether she had considered affiliating herself and running with another municipal party (including the Mouvement lavallois), Revelakis said she’d been approached by the ML, as well as by the official opposition Parti Laval.
“Offers have come around from both parties,” she said. “But it’s too early to say. Right now, I want to concentrate on my district and I want to concentrate on my citizens.”
Action Laval’s response
The Laval News reached out to Action Laval’s leadership for their explanation of the procedures they followed when choosing the party’s mayoralty candidate.
According to AL spokesperson Geru Schneider, party president Achille Cifelli was not available earlier this week as he was away on business outside the country. Longtime Action Laval city councillor for Saint-Bruno David De Cotis provided the following e-mailed response.
“Our nomination process reflects our internal democratic tradition,” he said. “As in 2021, the selection of our candidate is based on an in-depth caucus discussion followed by a vote. This enables meaningful dialogue and a shared decision that reflects the values and objectives of our political party.
Mayer had support, said De Cotis
“I would like to point out that our candidate received overwhelming support for his nomination, demonstrating a strong bond within the party,” added De Cotis. “Representatives have also shown their unanimous support for this nomination, confirming the solidity of our choice.”
As for Revelakis’s recent comments, De Cotis said “we find it hard to understand the reaction of our former colleague, especially as she held a position on the party’s executive board.”
He said “her abrupt departure took the whole team by surprise, particularly given her involvement in our decision-making bodies. Nonetheless, we remain focused on our primary mission: to serve the interests of our citizens and work on our community’s priority issues.”
