Thurso mayor Benoît Lauzon forced to leave office due to intimate remarks toward municipal employees 

Sophie Demers 

The Commission municipale du Québec (CMQ) announced on Wednesday, April 23 their decision to disqualify Thurso Mayor and Prefect of the MRC de Papineau, Benoît Lauzon, from holding any council position in any local or regional municipality for the next five years. This decision was made because Lauzon repeatedly sent intimate messages via Facebook to seven municipal employees.

According to the official documents detailing the decision, these messages were sent between 2022 to 2025. The document also stated that, because of the relationship of authority Lauzon held over employees, the messages constitute an abuse of authority. 

After CMQ announced their decision, Lauzon stated he would be stepping down and permanently retiring from politics. Last January, Lauzon had stated that this would be his last mandate. This announcement was made by Lauzon in a Facebook post. At the time of writing Lauzon’s Mayoral Facebook page is not available. It has been reported that the post included an apology and an acknowledgement that messages were exchanged in a professional context that may have offended employees. 

The decision was made based on sections 305.1 and 306 of the Act respecting elections and referendums in municipalities. Section 305.1 states that an individual on council in any municipality can be disqualified from this position if their behaviour “is seriously detrimental to the honour and dignity of the office.” Section 306 states that an individual on council in a municipality can face disqualification if they “knowingly take advantage of his or her position to commit embezzlement, breach of trust or other misconduct.” 

Lauzon has been mayor of the Municipality of Thurso since 2013 as well as the Prefect of the MRC de Papineau since 2017. 

On April 25, the MRC Papineau announced that mayor of Montpellier, Denis Tassé, will be deputy prefect as well as Mayor of Thurso in Lauzon’s absence.

“Council members and the MRC de Papineau team wish to reassure the population and their partners. This transition will have no impact on the organization's operations. The MRC will remain operational,” stated the MRC in their official announcement also noting they would not be commenting on Lauzon’s absence.