Robert Labine
16th Mayor of Gatineau
In office
1988–1994
Preceded byGaétan Cousineau
Succeeded byGuy Lacroix
18th Mayor of Gatineau
Preceded byGuy Lacroix
Succeeded byYves Ducharme
Personal details
BornDecember 23, 1940
Gatineau, Quebec
DiedFebruary 4, 2021
Gatineau, Quebec
SpouseLiette Tremblay

Robert Labine (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. He was familiarly known as "Bob" Labine.[1]

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 (partial)

1999 Gatineau municipal election:
Mayor
Candidate Total votes  % of total votes
Robert Labine 15,557 48.32
Berthe Miron 13,824 42.94
Rosaire Cauchon 2,816 8.75
Total valid votes 32,197 100

Source: Carrie Buchanan, Kate Jaimet and Zev Singer, "Labine makes astonishing comeback: Ducharme returned for third term in Hull; Croteau unopposed in Aylmer," Ottawa Citizen, 8 November 1999, A4.

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.

References

  1. ↑ Mathieu Bélanger: "Robert «Bob» Labine s’éteint à l’âge de 80 ans" (in French), Le Droit, February 4, 2021.
  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. ↑ "PressReader.com - Digital Newspaper & Magazine Subscriptions". www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  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 | CBC News".
  7. ↑ Média, Bell. "Décès de l'ancien maire de Gatineau, Robert Labine". www.iheartradio.ca. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
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