‘Money guy’ makes bid for mayoralty
In his 12 years as Gatineau city councillor, Denis Tassé has earned a reputation among his colleagues and the public as the “money guy” on council.
No city project was too arcane, no balance sheet too complicated, to escape his keen, and frequently critical, gaze.
The judicious, often relentless, use of the fine-tooth comb may have irritated some of Tassé’s colleagues, most frequently Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin, but it impressed others and led directly to his decision to challenge Pedneaud-Jobin for the mayor’s job Nov. 5.
“Certain councillors have approached me and told me they would like to see me run as an independent mayor, so I’ve decided to do so,” Tassé says.
The 64-year-old entrepreneur, who has built a small chain of food stores in the Outaouais, prides himself on working collaboratively on projects while providing leadership.
His council work has skewed toward financial matters, serving on several council committees — notably the dedicated tax panel and the infrastructure fund — either as chairman or member and working within the group to achieve a common, and effective goal.
“I’ve done all this in collaboration with the municipal councillors and I wasn’t even the mayor, so when people see me work as a team, they want to follow me.”
To Tassé, this is the biggest difference between him and the sitting mayor. He accuses PedneaudJobin of having had a “mandate of inaction” and confrontation in his first four years.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen this much confrontation between the mayor and the elected councillors,” Tassé says. “He is not a representative mayor for the City of Gatineau.”
Tassé, born and raised in Hull/ Gatineau, has had some success in the early going. A mid-campaign poll, conducted for Le Droit newspaper and radio station 104.7 Outaouais, showed him in second place with 23.9 per cent, compared with the incumbent mayor’s 53 per cent support.
The poll indicated a high level of undecided voters, giving Tassé and others a ray of hope.
Tassé has latched onto populist issues in his campaign, with his central plank being a promise to go after a $100-million loan to repave some 100 kilometres of city streets.
Tassé concedes the loan, which he says would be repaid within 20 years, would mean a 1.4-per-cent increase in the city’s annual debt service payment, which now makes up about 11 per cent of the budget.
But he says it’s a long-overdue infrastructure investment that voters are ready to pay for.
“I’ve organized more than 180 events and made 2,400 calls across all districts and residents are telling me they are fed up with our roads in poor conditions,” Tassé says.
The recent LeDroit/104.7 poll indicates Tassé is backing a winner: Street improvements were far and away the most important issue, cited by 44 per cent of respondents.
Unusually, though, Tassé has been slow to provide detailed budget breakdowns. At a recent news conference, Tassé was heavily criticized for the lack of precise figures on a number of spending items.
This, in turn, has led to his four opponents painting a figurative target on his back.
In particular, fellow former councillor Sylvie Goneau, who placed third in the LeDroit poll, was unrelenting, saying the huge loan and resulting debt would endanger both the presently available funds and the city’s ability to borrow in future.
“This awkwardly presented plan misleads citizens,” Goneau said in a statement. “Since the beginning of the campaign, it gives the impression that investments will start on Day 1. Come on, it’s not serious.”
Tassé also plans to hold tax increases to 1.5 per cent annually in 2018 and 2019.
To achieve this, he says, he will use savings of $15 million through the city’s review board, as well as finding more efficient uses of funds.
“Right now, people are paying the full price but only 50 per cent of the work gets done,” he says. “They are paying too much for what they are getting.”
He is also promising an additional $4 million for the Société de Transport de l’Outaouais (STO).
Finally, he promises an $18-million investment toward the development of Gatineau’s downtown core, another top-of-mind issue in the recent voters poll.
“It was clear this summer that l’Axe Laurier (downtown corridor along Laurier Avenue) needs to become a tourist attraction with condominiums and hotels. We want to build something big and be proud of Gatineau.”
In the lead-up to the Quebec municipal elections on Nov. 5, the Citizen will be casting an eye toward Gatineau and profiling the candidates vying to become the city’s mayor. We’ll also be examining the key issues voters will be grappling with when they go to the ballot box. Stay tuned, as there will be more to come as we inch closer to election day.