Dominic Labrie

By Madeline Kerr

Dominic Labrie, Chelsea’s Ward 2 councillor who has represented the centre village since 2021, is seeking re-election this fall and says he has a plan to save taxpayers money while improving municipal services. 

Labrie told the Low Down that the recent hike in municipal taxes in Chelsea – an increase of 21 per cent in the past four years –  is “not sustainable.” 

“Residents’ capacity to pay has been reached,” he said. 

To save money, he said that if he were re-elected, he would push for an organizational audit “to ensure that [the municipality is] optimizing our resources.” 

He also said he wants to ensure that the moratorium on development in the centre village stays in place until a “solid financial framework [covering the next] five to 10 years” is implemented and until the municipality can “ensure that growth pays for growth.”

In 2024 Chelsea council passed a resolution to enforce a two-year moratorium on new projects within the village’s urban perimeter, citing concerns that the municipal water and sewer system is incapable of keeping up with the pace of new developments.

Among his other priorities, Labrie said that if re-elected he wants to reopen Chelsea’s master plan to put in place provisions that will better control development, improve municipal services, ensure that the MRC “does its fair share” by covering or subsidizing certain costs assumed by the municipality and to “stop futile bickering and work better with our partners to fund recreation, parks, culture and infrastructure.” 

Labrie, a married father of two who has worked for the Senate, Parliamentary Affairs and as the former deputy director-general for the municipality of Pontiac, has been known for speaking publicly about Chelsea’s financial struggles. Last year he opposed the municipality’s $28 million budget, which saw an increase of residential taxes by 5.85 per cent, because it prioritized “lifting the moratorium … at all costs to the detriment of services and citizens.”

Despite favouring the continuation of the moratorium for the centre village, he said he also believes housing should be a priority, including for seniors, who he said “are leaving due to a lack of home care services.” He proposes “that we use the municipal land behind the pharmacy to help get a project off the ground,” referring to the Isabelle Ménard pharmacy on Chemin Old Chelsea. 

Concerning progress in his ward, he said that although “things aren’t moving as quickly as I would like, there has been progress.” He cited the opening of two new daycares, a new medical clinic due to open by 2027, new crosswalks and speed display panels, and the establishment of a homeowners’ cooperative.  

Regarding the new French elementary school planned for the centre village that has been put on hold due to budget cuts at the provincial level, Labrie said: “As the parent of a child in [Grade 1 at] Grand-Boisé and as a councillor for a district with many young families, I am following this issue closely … the real problem is that there are 99 schools in the planning stages that have been put on hold due to cutbacks by the Quebec government.”

Chelsea has projected that it will have an extra 300 elementary school-aged children in need of school placement by next year. 

Municipal elections will take place across the province on Nov. 2.