More than one year after being elected mayor of Laval, a judge ruled Marc Demers was legally elected.
Demers had to face a court hearing in November because he was not living continuously in Laval for the amount of time required by law.
He won the election by 44 per cent of the vote, more than 20 per cent above his nearest opponent.
Another mayoral candidate, Jacques Foucher, had challenged Demers' election on the grounds that Demers had not lived in Laval for 12 months before Sept. 1, 2013.
During the hearing in November, lawyers argued that Demers knew he was ineligible and went to the provincial government to try and have the laws amended.
Demers has spent most of his adult life in Laval, but in the summer of 2012 he sold his home in Laval, then lived in a second residence in Chatham until buying a new Laval home in 2013.
The law regarding municipal elections in Quebec says all candidates must have lived in the city for 12 months prior to Sept. 1 of the year of an election, but is ambiguous about whether those 12 months can be interrupted.
Aside from months he lived in Chatham, Demers lived in Laval for close to 40 years.
Demers said he’s not exactly celebrating the legal victory.
“I felt annoyed by the fact that they took that procedure and that they were thinking about themselves and not the population of Laval,” he said, adding that fighting the case cost Laval taxpayers $60,000.
Those who fought him said they don’t regret it.
“Would you tell me what is the cost of democracy? What is the cost of having unclear rules that will bring more problems later?” said Foucher, who is considering an appeal.
