Front commun des oppositions for an independent inquiry in Laval
Laval, Tuesday, November 5, 2024 - One month after Laval Mayor Stéphane Boyer refused to order an independent expert inquiry into the incidents that occurred during Storm Debby, the opposition parties at City Hall are joining forces to call on Quebec City and Ottawa to help shed light on the August 9 weather disaster. According to Parti Laval and Action Laval, an independent inquiry is essential to restore public confidence. The oppositions will therefore table a joint motion asking City Council to ask the governments of Quebec and Canada to subsidize this process. "To this day, many questions remain unanswered, and Mayor Boyer remains silent. Our population deserves answers and more transparency from their city on the state of our infrastructures," asserts Claude Larochelle, interim leader of Parti Laval.
Common front to restore public confidence
According to the elected representatives of the parties behind this request, several major failures of the storm and sanitary sewer systems were reported during Storm Debby, resulting in numerous victims who are still waiting for answers. "It's essential to understand what happened. We've suffered $300 million worth of damage, but the mayor tells us that an internal report is enough and that an independent investigation would be too expensive for him! That's why we're turning to Quebec City and Ottawa, to give people the answers they deserve," explains Mr. Larochelle, who believes that such a post-mortem should go far beyond simple internal assessments. At the October council meeting, the mayor of Laval rejected the request for an inquiry, stating that "if the floods were the result of an error on the part of the city, or its bad practices, it would only be in Laval that there would have been problems".
For Action Laval, the accountability of the Boyer administration and the holding of an inquiry are essential to restore citizen confidence and preserve municipal democracy. "After an event like Debby, providing answers, demonstrating transparency and accountability, and conducting an independent investigation are essential. There's no room for refusal on the part of the mayor, who knew the risks and the state of our infrastructure. He has lost the trust of many citizens by failing in his role," added Achille Cifelli, interim leader of Action Laval.
The opacity of the Boyer administration denounced
In their joint initiative, Parti Laval and Action Laval are seeking to shed light on what they describe as an "insidious" situation, which they claim has existed for several years in Laval. The leaders of the two opposition groups, Mr. Larochelle and Mr. Cifelli, maintain that Mayor Boyer's party has been aware for several years of the weaknesses and lack of investment in the city's critical systems. They claim that several studies have pointed in this direction, underlining in particular that an investment of over 600M$ was required to reinforce underground infrastructures. This finding echoes the conclusions of the Auditor General's 2019 report: "Our infrastructures have been neglected for 10 years by Mayor Boyer's party. The Auditor General's 2019 report clearly indicated that, in the absence of concrete action and significant investment in our sewer and road infrastructures, due to climate change and the city's accelerated development, we were at risk of major overflows and flooding. Mayor Boyer knew all about it," says the interim leader of Parti Laval.
The two opposition parties will unite their voices at the November 5 city council meeting to obtain the answers that thousands of citizens have been demanding for nearly three months. "The citizens of Laval deserve answers. Even if Mayor Boyer continues to refuse them, we're going to do everything we can to get them. That's why we're joining forces to ask for support from other levels of government," concludes Claude Larochelle.
Source: Responsable des communications - Office of the Official Opposition of Ville de Laval
Information: Tommy Vallée │438 875 8663 │t.vallee@laval.ca