Marc Demers

This is Marc Demers's second provincial election campaign. In 2007, he finished a strong second behind incumbent Alain Paquet in Laval-des-Rapides, failing to unseat the Liberal MNA by 4.5% of the votes. He's been associated with the PQ since 2003, when he elected president of the Executive Committee of the party's riding association in Laval-des-Rapides. A retired Detective-Lieutenant, he spent his last 15 years on the Laval Police Force heading a team handling major crimes. Resident of Pont-Viau, Mr. Demers is currently a private security consultant. He's involved in a number of community causes as a volunteer, notably as a member of the Laval delegation for the Jeux du Quebec.

"Laval, it's my milieu. I studied here, I worked here, and I live here," he says. The ex-sleuth views the question of urban violence from an objective perspective. "The arrival of the metro brought with it fear which was worse than the reality. Yes, there's a problem of street gangs in Laval, but it's not exclusively related to the metro. And the solutions have to come from the community, the school system and the police. But not just the police." Among the issues he enumerates (socio-economic disparities, public housing, health) – environment tops his list. He looks at the question from various interrelated angles: urban development, public transit, hot spots, and air quality and quality of life.

"The metro brought with it negligence of the quality of life of residents," he says. Metro passengers at Montmorency and Cartier stations are in large measure residents of the Northern Crown," Mr. Demers maintains. The problem which was indigenous to Montreal found its way into Laval. The solution, according to him: unblock the Laval terminuses by redesigning the parking lots and bus routes of the Northern Crown suburbs feeding into the metro. In order to redesign the urban milieu around public transit and to get out of the urban model of the 1960s and 1970s, he points to the importance of leadership at all levels of government as well as from the business world. As example, he cites the 'hot spots' prevalent in the riding he wants to represent. "Laval-des-Rapides, it's the 440, 19, and 15, parking lots, shopping malls, the industrial park. We must replant. In new developments, landscaping should not be optional. We're about to engage in development that makes us sick."