Robert Labine

Robert Labine
16th and 18th Mayor of Gatineau
In office
November 7, 1999 – December 31, 2001
Preceded byGuy Lacroix
Succeeded byYves Ducharme
In office
June 5, 1988 – August 14, 1994
Preceded byGaétan Cousineau
Succeeded byGuy Lacroix
Personal details
Born(1940-12-23)December 23, 1940
Gatineau, Quebec
DiedFebruary 4, 2021(2021-02-04) (aged 80)
Gatineau, Quebec
SpouseLiette Tremblay

Robert "Bob" Labine[1] (23 December 1940 – 4 February 2021) was a politician in Gatineau, Quebec. He was best known for being mayor of the former city of Gatineau between 1988 and 1994 and again between 1999 and 2001.

Career

Labine was born in Gatineau, Quebec. He entered politics as a councillor of Gatineau in 1968 and remained at that position until 1978. He was elected mayor in 1988 and re-elected for a second mandate in 1991. Due to conflicts of interest, he resigned in 1994 before re-entering politics in 1999 after then-incumbent mayor Guy Lacroix stepped down after five years as mayor. Labine defeated future ADQ candidate Berthe Miron.

In 2001, Labine competed against then-Hull incumbent mayor Yves Ducharme and lost. After the election, he had little involvement in municipal politics.

During his first mandate, Labine (along with former Aylmer mayor Constance Provost) opposed a project of regrouping the cities of Hull, Aylmer and Gatineau in the early 1990s.[2] The merger did occur in 2002 when a bill by the Parti Québécois forced the merger of those three municipalities along with Buckingham and Masson-Angers. In 2000, Labine mentioned that a merger would not save money.[3]

During his tenure as mayor, Labine was in favour of building a new sports complex in the Gatineau sector. However, the building was built only a decade later, in 2010, due to negotiations with other levels of governments regarding funding.[4] The mayor of the new city of Gatineau, Marc Bureau, had committed to having this project realized. Labine was also in favour of building an additional bridge to Ottawa in the east end of the metropolitan area, via Kettle Island towards the Aviation Parkway, a controversial project that was opposed by many Ottawa residents.[5]

After his political career, Labine led a successful bid for the city of Gatineau to obtain the 2010 Quebec Summer Games in which it defeated four other bids coming from Vaudreuil-Dorion, Shawinigan, Rivière-du-Loup and Charlevoix.[6]

Personal life

Labine was married and had two children. He died in the Hull sector of Gatineau on 4 February 2021, aged 80.[7]

Electoral record

2001 Gatineau municipal election: Mayor
Party Candidate Popular vote Expenditures
Votes % ±%
Independent Yves Ducharme 47,975 54.39 – none listed
Independent Robert Labine 40,227 45.61 -2.71[a] none listed
Total valid votes 88,202 98.65
Total rejected, unmarked and declined votes 1,203 1.35 -0.07[a]
Turnout 89,405 53.76 +7.11[a]
Eligible voters 166,292
Note: Candidate campaign colours, unless a member of a party, are based on the prominent colour used in campaign items
(signs, literature, etc.) or colours used in polling graphs and are used as a visual differentiation between candidates.
Sources: Office of the City Clerk of Gatineau[8]
1999 Gatineau municipal election: Mayor
Party Candidate Popular vote Expenditures
Votes % ±%
Independent Robert Labine 15,557 48.32 – none listed
Independent Berthe Miron 13,824 42.94 – none listed
Independent Rosaire Cauchon 2,816 8.75 – none listed
Total valid votes 32,197 98.58
Total rejected, unmarked and declined votes 464 1.42 +0.18
Turnout 32,611 45.35 +0.28
Eligible voters 72,020
Note: Candidate campaign colours, unless a member of a party, are based on the prominent colour used in campaign items
(signs, literature, etc.) or colours used in polling graphs and are used as a visual differentiation between candidates.
Sources: Ville de Gatineau Archives[9] and Ottawa Citizen[10]
1988 Gatineau mayoral by-election
Resignation of Gaétan Cousineau
Party Candidate Popular vote Expenditures
Votes % ±%
Independent Robert Labine 9,150 37.98 – none listed
Independent Sylvain Simard 8,976 37.26 – none listed
Independent Jean Deschênes 4,947 20.53 – none listed
Independent Hubert Leroux 1,018 4.23 – none listed
Total valid votes 24,091 99.10
Total rejected, unmarked and declined votes 219 0.90 –
Turnout 24,310 44.63 –
Eligible voters 54,470
Note: Candidate campaign colours, unless a member of a party, are based on the prominent colour used in campaign items
(signs, literature, etc.) or colours used in polling graphs and are used as a visual differentiation between candidates.
Sources: Ville de Gatineau Archives[11] and Ottawa Citizen[12]

See the 1987 Gatineau municipal election page for details on Deschênes and Leroux.
Source: David Gamble, "Labine wins tight race for mayor in Gatineau," Ottawa Citizen, 6 June 1988, A1.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c The difference is taken from the result of the 1999 Gatineau mayoral election, which was before amalgamation.

References

  1. ^ Bélanger, Mathieu (February 4, 2021). "Robert «Bob» Labine s'éteint à l'âge de 80 ans". Le Droit (in Canadian French). Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  2. ^ "L'Année politique au Québec 1990-1991 : La vie municipale et régionale". www.pum.umontreal.ca. Archived from the original on 1999-11-19.
  3. ^ "Municipalities in Outaouais undergoing big changes - CBC News". Archived from the original on 2012-10-22.
  4. ^ Rogers, Dave (14 June 2010). "$50.4M Gatineau Sports Complex Opens". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 16 December 2023 – via PressReader.
  5. ^ "Implications of a west-end bridge over the Ottawa River/Lac Deschenes". www.magma.ca. Archived from the original on 1999-11-10.
  6. ^ "Gatineau to host 2010 Quebec Summer Games".
  7. ^ Média, Bell. "Décès de l'ancien maire de Gatineau, Robert Labine". www.iheartradio.ca. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Ville de Gatineau (2002- ) – Élection du 4 novembre 2001" (PDF) (in Canadian French). City of Gatineau. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  9. ^ "Ville de Gatineau (1975-2001) - Élection du 7 novembre 1999". Ville de Gatineau (in Canadian French). Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  10. ^ Buchanan, Carrie; Jaimet, Kate; Singer, Zev (November 8, 1999). "Labine makes astonishing comeback: Ducharme returned for third term in Hull; Croteau unopposed in Aylmer". Ottawa Citizen.
  11. ^ "Ville de Gatineau (1975-2001) - Élection partielle du 5 juin 1988". Ville de Gatineau (in Canadian French). Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  12. ^ Gamble, David (June 6, 1988). "Labine wins tight race for mayor in Gatineau". Ottawa Citizen.