Three elected officials look back on achievements that make them particularly proud of their city.

In 2013, Christiane Yoakim was elected to the Laval City Council and became its president. Councillor for the district of Val-des-Arbres, she is very involved in this district where she has lived for more than 20 years. With a Master’s degree in organic chemistry and having worked in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 30 years, it was when she retired in 2013 that she decided to get involved with municipal politics. According to her, it was the best way to take concrete actions to improve the lives of citizens.

When Yoakim became president of City Council in 2013, her first task was to change the internal rules of the council with the help of the legal team. She visited several municipal councils, such as Gatineau and Longueuil, to get inspiration for Laval. Among her regular duties, she must of course sit on the municipal council once a month, ensure that the minutes are compliant, sign newly adopted by-laws and follow up on unanswered questions from citizens. Yoakim describes herself as the first responder when there is a problem or conflict.

The Governance Commission
Yoakim is also Chair of the Governance Commission. This Commission was created in 2015 by the City of Laval to follow up on recommendations made by the Institut sur la gouvernance d’organisations privées et publiques (IGOPP). Composed of five elected municipal officials from all political parties represented on City Council, its mission is to protect the interests of Laval residents by ensuring that public funds are used in the best possible way. To do this, it notably regulates the use of financial assistance offered to various non-profit organizations. Its pillars are transparency, accountability and good governance within organizations. “Our role is to ensure that the operation of organizations meets the city’s expectations,” says Yoakim. “For example, that their administrative council be more representative of Laval and its various communities. We therefore help them improve their ways of doing things by offering them various resources.”

The Val-des-Brises viaduct
Regarding the projects of which she is particularly proud, Yoakim first tells us about the Val-des-Brises viaduct. “With the arrival of large shopping centers, especially Adonis, a lot of traffic passes through boulevards Robert-Bourassa and Aristocrates, causing heavy congestion and speeding. The viaduct, which will link boulevard Robert-Bourrassa to rue Gaumont via boulevard Michel-Ange, will help to regulate this traffic,” she explains. This project should see the light of day by the end of 2021 or early 2022. The viaduct will also have a pedestrian path and a bicycle path. “This is a concrete, visible project that will, above all, lead to a better quality of life for the citizens of Val-des-Brises,” she says.

Land and territory development
“Another project that I find particularly interesting is the land and territory development plan. This long-term planning will be crucial for all citizens,” says Yoakim. What is the land and territory development plan? This is an orientation document based on a long-term strategic vision for the development of the territory. It is therefore a long-term development project, which will span the next two decades. Since 2014, Laval has been developing reference orientation documents for the development of its territory for the next twenty years, following the strategic vision “Urbaine de nature : Laval 2035”. It aims to develop Laval in harmony with its urban and agricultural living environments while preserving nature and the environment. To find out more about the development plan, as well as to participate in the next public consultations, you can visit the site repensonslaval.ca/schema.

“With this project, we can already imagine Laval in twenty years from now, with a city center developed to its full capacity, dynamic and prosperous, as well as protected parks. The harmonious and very green Laval of tomorrow is already taking shape today,” says Yoakim.