Laurent Lavallée, running for Lucerne with Action Gatineau

With a focus on maximizing citizen engagement at the municipal level and optimizing Gatineau’s infrastructural development over the next four years, local resident Laurent Lavallée told the Aylmer Bulletin he is dedicated to becoming the next councillor of the Lucerne district.

Representing Action Gatineau, Lavallée officially announced his candidacy during an online event hosted by the party on June 30.  He told the Bulletin that he’s fully confident to be the best candidate to bring more services for families and help accommodate Gatineau’s booming population as strategically as possible.

Laurent Lavallée boasts an extensive background in business and community involvement and he has a keen interest in administrative affairs. He believes his life’s journey has ultimately led him to getting into politics. “Why now?” Lavallée said, noting that he joined Action Gatineau last October. “I think it was a question of timing. I saw that the Lucerne district was open and thought that we could do better, not only for the district, but for Aylmer.”

With a Bachelor’s degree in business administration from L’Université du Québec à Montréal and currently working at the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management, Lavallée points to his experience in project planning and believes his entrepreneurial expertise more than translates into politics. “I don’t turn away from projects that I think are too complicated,” Lavallée said, highlighting the importance of supporting small businesses. “We can’t ignore projects; we must attack them head on.”

Wanting to put Aylmer at the forefront of the city’s decision-making, with all sorts of ideas in mind for projects to benefit the population in the present and future, he is focused on making long-term impacts that will affect the city beyond the next four years.

He stated that Lucerne is a largely residential district with few businesses, and that he believes the city needs to improve its offering of youth services with more sports and recreational facilities and community centers and to harmonize urban development and accessibility of various services in certain neighbourhoods. “Nearby businesses need to be a priority, not only economically, but for residents’ quality of life,” Lavallée said, noting that projects must be developed with everyone’s needs at heart. “We don’t have a lot of sports installations in the west.” He added that the city needs to do a better job of getting youth involved in municipal politics.

An adamant proponent of residents’ associations and their capacity to help elected officials understand particular needs in different communities and to involve residents in municipal affairs, Lavallée said he will make it a priority to support them if he is elected. “I would like all neighbourhoods to benefit from the city’s assistance because everyone has an opinion,” he said, noting that he looks forward to knocking on more than 5,000 doors in Lucerne during his campaign.

Coming out of the pandemic, Lavallée added that supporting seniors and vulnerable residents must remain top of mind when it comes to municipal decision-making. Dubbing it more than a political party, Lavallée said he joined Action Gatineau because he shared the same values and vision for Gatineau’s future as its members do.