Régis Labeaume

Early life

Labeaume holds a bachelor's degree in sociology from the Université Laval. Prior to being mayor, Labeaume was a local businessman and chair of the Fondation de l’entrepreneurship organisation since 2003 and worked primarily in the mining industry. He was previously the political adviser of former Communications Minister and former Parti Québécois MNA of the riding of Vanier, Jean-François Bertrand from 1980 to 1983. He also collaborated to two books on the Quebec mining industry and on small and medium enterprises.

Municipal politics in Quebec City

In 2005, he made an attempt to be elected leader of the municipal political party Renouveau municipal de Québec but lost to 2007 candidate Claude Larose

First mayoral term

Labeaume was elected on December 2, 2007 in a special election following the death of Andrée Boucher. He was elected with over 59 per cent of the popular vote, defeating candidate Ann Bourget who was the front-runner throughout most of the campaign until the final few days. She eventually ended second with 32% of the votes, followed by former Quebec Liberal Party Minister of Justice and lawyer Marc Bellemare. Labeaume obtained the support of key local figures including Marc Boucher, husband of the late Andrée Boucher, and former mayor Gilles Lamontagne.

Throughout his first term as mayor, Régis Labeaume's emphasis centered on making the city of Quebec a major tourism destination in Canada. At the time, he was keen to the idea of a New Quebec City Amphitheatre. With the 400th Anniversary of the city in 2008, the image of Quebec City changed in the eyes of many. After the festivities, the mayor promised to keep investing to make Quebec City an appealing destination.

But during his first mandate as mayor, he has also developed a certain reputation for speaking his mind and not always using the right words in front of the medias. In October 2009 he made some scathing comments about the federal minister Josée Verner. On a pre-recorded interview on Télé-Québec, he declared “I get along well with Ms. Verner, but sometimes I could just smack her, those culture cuts, I just don't agree with them.” He later made public excuses and explained that he only wanted to express his anger against the recent cuts in culture by the federal government.

A study based on 68 000 texts and reports broadcast in Quebec between April 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009, showed that Régis Labeaume was the mayor with the most media had coverage in Quebec with 54.4% of the media coverage. In another study in 2008, Labeaume ranked 10th in a list of the most mediatised personalities in Quebec along with the then-newly-elected American president Barack Obama, Guy Carbonneau (coach of the Montreal Canadiens), and Stephen Harper.

Second mayoral term

On November 1, 2009, on the night of the municipal elections in Québec, Régis Labeaume was re-elected by an overwhelming majority of 79,7% against 8,6% for the radio host Jean-François Jeff Fillion and 8,1% for Yonnel Bonaventure and the Défi Vert de Québec party. Not only did Labeaume win his election, but his party, l'Équipe Labeaume, managed to elect a councillor in 25 out of the 27 districts. Only the districts of Vieux-Québec-Montcalm and Saint-Sacrement-Belvédère elected independent councillors. With this vast majority at the city council, Labeaume declared his intentions to make Quebec City the most appealing city in Canada and that in 15 years, the city would be greener, more efficient and more active.

Third mayoral term

On November 3, 2013, Régis Labeaume was re-elected with a strong 74.1% and 18 out of 21 candidates from l'Équipe Labeaume where elected as Councillors.

A new Colisée in Québec

A couple of months before the elections of December 2009, on October 16, Régis Labeaume announced his intention of going forward with the project of the new indoor arena. He announced a new Colisée of 18 000 seats would be built besides the old Colisée Pepsi. The costs of this project estimated at 400 million dollars would be paid in part by the federal and provincial governments as well as the city. When asked if this kind of announcement was justified before the elections, Labeaume answered he wanted to be transparent and that this announcement should be seen as an electoral engagement.

On September 10, 2010, Quebec's premier Jean Charest, announces the province would be ready to pay 45% percent of the bill for the new arena if Ottawa would follow and do the same. At this point, the project is still estimated at 400 million dollars but Régis Labeaume and his team are still waiting for the federal answer.

In December 2010, after a couple of months of speculations. Prime minister Harper announced the government had no intention of paying for these kinds of installations. The money would have to come from the private sector.

In March 2011, Régis Labeaume announced that he was "passing the puck" to Pierre Karl Péladeau and the groupe Quebecor. The media empire engaged itself in using the new Colisée with or without an NHL team.