BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

As Vaudreuil-Dorion Mayor Guy Pilon has announced he will not seek re-election later this year, a candidate who was once part of his team, but has since sparred with the long-serving mayor has stepped forward to run for the top municipal job in the biggest municipality in the region.

Karine Lechasseurlaunched her campaign earlier this month under the banner of a new political party, Inspire Vaudreuil-Dorion. She is a real estate agent who is currently a member of council.

“We aspire to build a resilient and prosperous city whose harmonious development values the intelligence of its community, offering a sustainable and safe environment that prioritizes future generations, Lachasseur said in a statement issued before her party’s official launch.

Elected by acclamation as part of Pilon’s political party in 2021, Lachasseur, along with two other councillors – Jasmine Sharma and Diane Morin – split from that slate in 2023, when the mayor’s team voted to exclude them from committee groups. The three councillors have sat as independents ever since. Sharma is running as a candidate with the new party. She is seeking re-election to a third term in District 3. She was first elected in 2017, picking up more than 60-per-cent support. In 2021, she was acclaimed.

Four other candidates will be running as members of the new party in the November election. They include Maëlys Eouani, Noémie Huet Gagnon, Sheldon Burgoa and Benoît Giguère.

In the last municipal election in 2021 Pilon was acclaimed to his fifth term as mayor.