Lyn Thériault

Lyn Thériault
Montreal City Councillor for the Louis-Riel Ward
Incumbent
Assumed office
2009
Preceded by Richer Dompierre
In office
2001–2005
Preceded by Jacques Charbonneau
Succeeded by Richer Dompierre
Member of the Montreal Executive Committee responsible for community, social development, and families
In office
2009–2011
Preceded by Mary Deros
Succeeded by Jocelyn Ann Campbell
Borough mayor of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
In office
2005–2009
Preceded by Ivon Le Duc
Succeeded by Réal Ménard
Member of the Commission scolaire de Montréal, Ward Ten
In office
1998–2007
Preceded by position created
Succeeded by Jean-Denis Dufort
Personal details
Political party Vision Montreal

Lyn Thériault, formerly known as Lyn Faust, is a politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She has served on the Montreal city council since 2001 as a member of the Vision Montreal party. Thériault was the borough mayor of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve from 2005 to 2009 and a member of the Montreal executive committee from 2009 to 2011. She was also a commissioner on the Commission scolaire de Montréal from 1998 to 2007.

Contents

Private career

Thériault has held administrative positions with the Fédération des comités de parents de la province de Québec, the Fédération des comités de parents de l'Île de Montréal and the Association canadienne d'éducation de la langue française; as well, she was a parent school commissioner on the Montreal Catholic School Commission in 1993–94. She has also been a member of Montreal's Board of Trade and Chamber of Commerce and has coordinated events such as the Montreal Chamber Music Festival.[1]

School commissioner

Thériault was elected to the Commission scolaire de Montréal in the 1998 elections as a candidate of the conservative Regroupement scolaire confessionnel (RSC) party.[2] The RSC was defeated in this election, but later formed a de facto majority on council in alliance with five defectors from the governing Mouvement pour une école moderne et ouverte (MÉMO).[3]

Thériault later became a founding member of the Collectif pour la réussite et l'épanouissement de l'enfant (CRÉE), a successor party to the RSC. In March 2003, she was appointed to the commission's executive.[4] She was re-elected as a CRÉE candidate in the 2003 elections, in which MÉMO won a landslide majority. After serving in opposition for the next four years, she did not seek re-election in 2007.

City councillor

Thériault was first elected to the Montreal city council in the 2001 municipal election for the east-end division of Louis-Riel. Gérald Tremblay's Montreal Island Citizens Union (MICU) won a majority in this election, and Thériault entered council as a member of the opposition. By virtue of serving on city council, she also served on the Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough council.

Borough mayor

Thériault was elected as borough mayor of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve in the 2005 municipal election, defeating Pierre Bélanger, a former Parti Québécois (PQ) cabinet minister who ran for MICU.[5] As a borough mayor, she continued to serve on city council. Gérald Tremblay was re-elected as mayor of Montreal in this election, and MICU won another majority on the Montreal city council; in November 2005, Tremblay appointed Thériault as one of two opposition members on a fifteen-member island council responsible for services such as public transit and the police.[6]

In 2006, Thériault argued that Montreal's formula for determining borough budgets discriminated against her area of the city.[7] She later opposed a proposal to rename Montreal's Park Avenue and Bleury Street after former Quebec premier Robert Bourassa,[8] and in early 2007 she criticized a municipal plan to grant a ten-year untendered contract for a non-profit organization to oversee Montreal's recyclable waste.[9]

Thériault lost the Vision Montreal borough mayor nomination to Réal Ménard, a Bloc Québécois (BQ) member of the Canadian House of Commons, in the buildup to the 2009 municipal election.[10] She instead ran for and was re-elected to city council for the Louis-Riel division, defeating Union Montreal incumbent Richer Dompierre.[11] Thériault also continues to serve on the borough council.

Municipal executive

Gérald Tremblay was re-elected to a third term as mayor of Montreal in the 2009 election, and his Union Montreal party again won a majority of seats on council. After the election, Tremblay broke with tradition by appointing members of opposition parties to the Montreal executive committee (i.e., the municipal cabinet). Thériault was chosen as Vision Montreal's representative, with responsibility for social and community development, family, and seniors.[12] She held this position until 2011.

Reports from the Montreal Gazette indicate that the presence of opposition members in Tremblay's cabinet did not change the adversarial nature of Montreal municipal politics.[13] Thériault absented herself when Vision Montreal voted against Tremblay's 2010 budget.[14]

Tremblay removed Thériault from the executive committee on March 22, 2011, after she and sixteen other Vision Montreal councillors were cited by Quebec's chief electoral officer for making illegal loan guarantees for their party in the 2009 election. Vision Montreal contended that the guarantees were made in error and that the party had itself raised the matter with Quebec election officials.[15] Tremblay said that Thériault had performed well on the executive, but that he could not keep her in government following the citation.[16]

Provincial politics

Thériault ran as a Quebec Liberal Party candidate in a provincial by-election in Bourget in 2008, centring her campaign what she described as "a pro-family theme."[17] She was defeated by Parti Québécois candidate Maka Kotto.[18]

Electoral record

Municipal
Provincial
School trustee

References

  1. ^ Lyn Thériault - Candidat (2009 campaign literature), Vision Montreal, accessed 27 October 2011; Arrondissement Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve: Conseil d'arrondissement, City of Montreal, accessed 27 October 2011.
  2. ^ Ingrid Peritz, "MEMO takes control of Montreal's French board," Montreal Gazette, 15 June 1998, p. 5.
  3. ^ Remonter la cote de l'école publique, arrondisement.com, accessed 29 October 2011.
  4. ^ Sommaire des communiques transmis par CNW Telbec le 13 mars 2003.
  5. ^ "Election 2005 Results: Montreal & Suburbs," Montreal Gazette, 7 November 2005, p. 10.
  6. ^ Linda Gyulai, "Tremblay's inner circle unveiled," Montreal Gazette, 18 November 2005, p. 6.
  7. ^ Michelle Lalonde and James Mennie, "Borough mayors," Montreal Gazette, 17 March 2006, p. 7. See also Linda Gyulai, "City accused of shifting tax hikes to boroughs," Montreal Gazette, 7 October 2006, p. 6.
  8. ^ "Yea or nay? Councillors duck question," Montreal Gazette, 20 November 2006, p. 4; Linda Gyulai, "No Walk in the Park," Montreal Gazette, 29 November 2006, p. 1.
  9. ^ Linda Gyulai, "Non-profit firm up for 10-year recycling contract," Montreal Gazette, 23 February 2007, p. 6.
  10. ^ Jan Ravensbergen, "Two star candidates and a resignation; Menard joins Vision; Boulos to run alone; Purcell joins Tremblay," Montreal Gazette, 26 June 2009, p. 6.
  11. ^ "The Municipal Vote," Montreal Gazette, 3 November 2007, p. 8.
  12. ^ "De l'opposition au comité exécutif de la Ville de Montréal," Le Téléjournal, 17 November 2009; Linda Gyulai, "Making history at city hall; Power Shift; Opposition councillors on executive committee," Montreal Gazette, 18 November 2009, p. 1; James Mennie, "Mayor tries multi-party gambit; Will it work?; 'Tremblay was very courageous'," Montreal Gazette, 18 November 2009, p. 3.
  13. ^ James Mennie, "A co-operative city hall; Municipal parties find as many issues to unite as they do to divide," Montreal Gazette, 29 April 2010, p. 7; James Mennie, "Learning to live together at city hall; Have things calmed down since Gerald Tremblay called for an end to the 'sterile' political debate dogging council?", Montreal Gazette, 30 October 2010, p. 7.
  14. ^ James Mennie, "D'oh! Bergeron changes view of mayor; Supports municipal budget; Projet leader had compared Tremblay to Homer Simpson during campaign," Montreal Gazette, 27 January 2010, p. 7.
  15. ^ James Mennie, "Statement demands Vision Montreal apology; Attack withdrawn - for now; Tremblay administration will try again to table declaration condemning party," Montreal Gazette, 23 March 2011, p. 7; James Mennie, "Debate nasty even by council standards," Montreal Gazette, 24 March 2011, p. 7.
  16. ^ James Mennie, "Opposition out in city's cabinet shuffle; Tremblay appoints Applebaum to oversee finance," Montreal Gazette, 7 April 2011, p. 7.
  17. ^ Philip Authier, "Theriault to run for Liberals; Montreal borough mayor in provincial by-election," Montreal Gazette, 26 February 2008, p. 9.
  18. ^ Philip Authier, Hubert Bauch & Elizabeth Thompson, "ADQ slumps in every riding; Meltdown. PQ retains Bourget, Pointe-aux-Trembles, Liberals keep Hull," Montreal Gazette, 13 May 2008, p. 1.