# 1987 Gatineau municipal election

The 1987 Gatineau municipal election was held on November 1, 1987, to elect a mayor and councillors in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. Incumbent mayor Gaétan Cousineau was narrowly re-elected over a challenge from former mayor John Luck.

## Results
### Mayor

vte1987 Gatineau municipal election: Mayor of Gatineau :
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Gaétan Cousineau (incumbent) | 13,569 | 50.33 |
| John Luck | 13,390 | 49.67 |
| Total valid votes | 26,959 | 100 |

### Council

1987 Gatineau election, Councillor, District One :
| Candidate | Total votes | % of total votes |
| Michel Charbonneau | 1,205 | 42.53 |
| Simon Racine | 704 | 24.85 |
| Andre Gregoire | 601 | 21.21 |
| De Sale Gauthier | 323 | 11.40 |
| Total valid votes | 2,833 | 100.00 |
1987 Gatineau election, Councillor, District Two :
| Candidate | Total votes | % of total votes |
| Therese Cyr | 1,542 | 46.45 |
| Daniel Moreau | 1,525 | 45.93 |
| Carole Malouin | 253 | 7.62 |
| Total valid votes | 3,320 | 100.00 |
1987 Gatineau election, Councillor, District Three :
| Candidate | Total votes | % of total votes |
| (incumbent)Gilbert Garneau | 1,169 | 60.92 |
| Michel Gobeil | 452 | 23.55 |
| Alcide Beaulne | 298 | 15.53 |
| Total valid votes | 1,919 | 100.00 |
1987 Gatineau election, Councillor, District Four :
| Candidate | Total votes | % of total votes |
| Richard Canuel | 1,108 | 54.61 |
| (incumbent)Hubert Leroux | 921 | 45.39 |
| Total valid votes | 2,029 | 100.00 |
1987 Gatineau election, Councillor, District Five :
| Candidate | Total votes | % of total votes |
| Helene Theoret | 573 | 22.39 |
| (incumbent)Guy Lacroix | 517 | 20.20 |
| Gilles Trahan | 390 | 15.24 |
| Roger Fortin | 312 | 12.19 |
| Paul Lavoie | 304 | 11.88 |
| Raymond Gosselin | 159 | 6.21 |
| Florent Cadotte | 153 | 5.98 |
| Gaetan Dube | 151 | 5.90 |
| Total valid votes | 2,559 | 100.00 |
1987 Gatineau election, Councillor, District Six :
| Candidate | Total votes | % of total votes |
| (incumbent) Claire Vaive | accl. | |
vte1987 Gatineau municipal election: Councillor, Ward Seven :
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| (x) Berthe Miron | 1,127 | 51.77 |
| Michel Seguin | 622 | 28.57 |
| Pierre Lefebvre | 428 | 19.66 |
| Total valid votes | 2,177 | 100 |
1987 Gatineau election, Councillor, District Eight :
| Candidate | Total votes | % of total votes |
| (incumbent)Richard Migneault | 1,434 | 76.07 |
| Annette Laurin | 451 | 23.93 |
| Total valid votes | 1,885 | 100.00 |
1987 Gatineau election, Councillor, District Nine :
| Candidate | Total votes | % of total votes |
| (incumbent)Rene-Jean Monnette | accl. | |
1987 Gatineau election, Councillor, District Ten :
| Candidate | Total votes | % of total votes |
| Richard Cote | 1,375 | 56.61 |
| (incumbent)Jacques Vezina | 745 | 30.67 |
| Gerald Joly | 309 | 12.72 |
| Total valid votes | 2,429 | 100.00 |
1987 Gatineau election, Councillor, District Eleven :
| Candidate | Total votes | % of total votes |
| (incumbent)François Leclerc | 1,064 | 52.13 |
| Catherine Filion | 977 | 47.87 |
| Total valid votes | 2,041 | 100.00 |
1987 Gatineau election, Councillor, District Twelve :
| Candidate | Total votes | % of total votes |
| Marlene Goyet | 1,088 | 42.55 |
| Irene Schingh-Seguin | 557 | 21.78 |
| (incumbent)Charles Vaillancourt | 408 | 15.96 |
| Michel Constantineau | 371 | 14.51 |
| Lary Seguin | 133 | 5.20 |
| Total valid votes | 2,557 | 100.00 |

### Post-election changes

Gaétan Cousineau resigned as mayor in early 1988, and a by-election was held to choose his replacement.
* Jean Deschênes was born on March 26, 1940, in Sainte-Flavie, Quebec. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Ottawa, began working as a school principal in 1972, and later received a Master of Public Administration degree. Deschênes first ran for mayor of Gatineau in 1979, losing to incumbent John Luck, and ran a second time in a by-election called after the resignation of Gaetan Cousineau in 1988. He highlighted his skills as an administrator and sought a municipal tax freeze in the latter campaign. Despite an endorsement from Luck, he finished third against Robert Labine. He was later elected to the Gatineau city council in 1995, representing the city’s fifth ward. In 1996, Deschênes was arrested by Gatineau police under very controversial circumstances while returning home from a charity function; despite passing three breathalyzer tests, he was taken to the station in handcuffs and given a fourth test before being released. The officers were later reprimanded for not following proper procedure. At the time of the incident, Deschênes chaired a city committee that was looking into cutbacks for city staff, including the police; he, and many others, later described the police actions as intimidation and harassment. He was narrowly defeated by Joseph de Sylva in 1999. He also sought election in 2001, but was defeated. Deschênes has been active in the Liberal Party of Canada.
* Hubert Leroux was born in Hawkesbury, Ontario. An insurance broker, he served on the Gatineau city council from 1979 to 1987. Known as a maverick politician, Leroux was one of only two councillors to vote against the city's 1986 budget, arguing that more spending cuts could have been made. He also opposed Mayor Gaétan Cousineau's plans for a new city hall building. He lost to Richard Canuel in the 1987 election. He was forty-eight years old during the 1988 election and described himself as a "small-c" conservative. The latter point notwithstanding, he called for a significant business tax increase to keep property taxes down.
1988 Gatineau mayoral by-election Resignation of Gaétan Cousineau :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Popular vote | Popular vote | Popular vote | Expenditures | Expenditures |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | Expenditures |
| | Independent | Robert Labine | 9,150 | 37.98 | – | none listed |
| | Independent | Sylvain Simard | 8,976 | 37.26 | – | none listed |
| | Independent | Jean Deschênes | 4,947 | 20.53 | – | none listed |
| | Independent | Hubert Leroux | 1,018 | 4.23 | – | none listed |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 24,091 | 99.10 | | | |
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined votes | Total rejected, unmarked and declined votes | Total rejected, unmarked and declined votes | 219 | 0.90 | – | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 24,310 | 44.63 | – | |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 54,470 | | | | |
| Note: Candidate campaign colours, unless a member of a party, are based on the prominent colour used in campaign items (signs, literature, etc.) or colours used in polling graphs and are used as a visual differentiation between candidates. |||||||
| Sources: Ville de Gatineau Archives and Ottawa Citizen ||||||||
Sources: "Final official results of weekend Outaouais civic elections," Ottawa Citizen, 6 November 1987, C3; "Cousineau wins, Luck continues to contest result" [mayoral recount], Ottawa Citizen, 16 November 1987, C1; David Gamble, "Labine wins tight race for mayor in Gatineau," Ottawa Citizen, 6 June 1988, A1.