View source for Robert Labine

{{Short description|Canadian politician (1940–2021)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Robert Labine
| image =  Robert Labine 1992.jpg
| caption = Labine in 1992
| birth_date = {{birth date|1940|12|23}}
| birth_place = [[Gatineau]], [[Quebec]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|2021|2|4|1940|12|23}}
| death_place = [[Gatineau]], [[Quebec]]
| office = 16th and 18th [[Mayor of Gatineau]]
| term_start1 = November 7, 1999
| term_end1 = December 31, 2001
| predecessor1 = [[Guy Lacroix]]
| successor1 = [[Yves Ducharme]]
| term_start2 = June 5, 1988
| term_end2 = August 14, 1994
| predecessor2 = [[Gaétan Cousineau]]
| successor2 = Guy Lacroix
| party = 
| religion =
| constituency =
| majority =
| spouse = Liette Tremblay
}}

'''Robert "Bob" Labine'''<ref>{{cite news |last=Bélanger |first=Mathieu |date=February 4, 2021 |url=https://www.ledroit.com/actualites/gatineau/robert-bob-labine-seteint-a-lage-de-80-ans-dbf93ca5c609371a133a9c6e135e1c79 |title=Robert «Bob» Labine s’éteint à l’âge de 80 ans |access-date=April 15, 2024 |work=[[Le Droit]] |language=fr-ca}}</ref> (23 December 1940 – 4 February 2021) was a politician in [[Gatineau]], [[Quebec]]. He was best known for being [[Mayor of Gatineau|mayor]] of the former city of Gatineau between 1988 and 1994 and again between 1999 and 2001.

==Career==
Labine was born in [[Gatineau]], [[Quebec]]. He entered politics as a [[councillor]] of Gatineau in 1968 and remained at that position until 1978. He was elected mayor in 1988 and re-elected for a second mandate in 1991. Due to conflicts of interest, he resigned in 1994 before re-entering politics in 1999 after then-incumbent mayor Guy Lacroix stepped down after five years as mayor. Labine defeated future [[Action democratique du Quebec|ADQ]] candidate Berthe Miron.

In 2001, Labine competed against then-Hull incumbent mayor [[Yves Ducharme]] and lost. After the election, he had little involvement in municipal politics.

During his first mandate, Labine (along with former Aylmer mayor Constance Provost) opposed a project of regrouping the cities of [[Hull, Quebec|Hull]], [[Aylmer, Quebec|Aylmer]] and Gatineau in the early 1990s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pum.umontreal.ca/apqc/90_91/andrew/andrew.htm |title=L'Année politique au Québec 1990-1991 : La vie municipale et régionale |website=www.pum.umontreal.ca |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991119005044/http://www.pum.umontreal.ca/apqc/90_91/andrew/andrew.htm |archive-date=1999-11-19}} </ref> The merger did occur in 2002 when a bill by the [[Parti Québécois]] forced the [[merger]] of those three municipalities along with [[Buckingham, Quebec|Buckingham]] and [[Masson-Angers, Quebec|Masson-Angers]]. In 2000, Labine mentioned that a merger would not save money.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/municipalities-in-outaouais-undergoing-big-changes-1.209464| url-status = live| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121022185436/http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2000/03/08/rural000308.html| archive-date = 2012-10-22| title = Municipalities in Outaouais undergoing big changes - CBC News}}</ref>

During his tenure as mayor, Labine was in favour of building a new sports complex in the Gatineau sector. However, the building was built only a decade later, in 2010, due to negotiations with other levels of governments regarding funding.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pressreader.com/canada/ottawa-citizen/20100614/284275296371164|title=$50.4M Gatineau Sports Complex Opens|date=14 June 2010|publisher=Ottawa Citizen|last=Rogers|first=Dave|via=PressReader|accessdate=16 December 2023}}</ref> The mayor of the new city of Gatineau, [[Marc Bureau (politician)|Marc Bureau]], had committed to having this project realized. Labine was also in favour of building an additional bridge to Ottawa in the east end of the metropolitan area, via  [[Kettle Island]] towards the [[Aviation Parkway (Ottawa)|Aviation Parkway]], a controversial project that was opposed by many [[Ottawa]] residents.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.magma.ca/~mcsail/bridge/bridge.htm |title=Implications of a west-end bridge over the Ottawa River/Lac Deschenes. |website=www.magma.ca |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991110234210/http://www.magma.ca/~mcsail/bridge/bridge.htm |archive-date=1999-11-10}} </ref>

After his political career, Labine led a successful bid for the city of Gatineau to obtain the [[Quebec Games|2010 Quebec Summer Games]] in which it defeated four other bids coming from [[Vaudreuil-Dorion]], [[Shawinigan]], [[Rivière-du-Loup]] and [[Charlevoix]].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/gatineau-to-host-2010-quebec-summer-games-1.641696| title = Gatineau to host 2010 Quebec Summer Games}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Labine was married and had two children. He died in the [[Hull, Quebec|Hull]] sector of Gatineau on 4 February 2021, aged 80.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iheartradio.ca/energie/energie-gatineau-ottawa/nouvelles/deces-de-l-ancien-maire-de-gatineau-robert-labine-1.14510522|title=Décès de l'ancien maire de Gatineau, Robert Labine|first=Bell|last=Média|website=www.iheartradio.ca|accessdate=16 December 2023}}</ref>

==Electoral record==
{{2001 Gatineau municipal election/Mayor}}
{{1999 Gatineau municipal election/Mayor}}
{{1988 Gatineau municipal by-elections/Mayor of Gatineau}}
See the [[1987 Gatineau municipal election]] page for details on Deschênes and Leroux.<br />''Source: David Gamble, "Labine wins tight race for mayor in Gatineau," Ottawa Citizen, 6 June 1988, A1.''

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.ville.gatineau.qc.ca/Archives/p009.htm Partial Biography of Robert Labine]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Labine, Robert}}
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:Mayors of Gatineau]]
[[Category:20th-century mayors of places in Quebec]]
[[Category:21st-century mayors of places in Quebec]]