Joseph De Sylva

Joseph de Sylva (born June 5, 1958 in Hull, Quebec) is a Quebec politician in Gatineau, Quebec. He is the councillor for the district of Du Versant in the Gatineau sector.

De Sylva, a Portuguese-Canadian, was formally a school trustee at the Commission Scolaire des Draveurs before he entered politics in 1999 when he was elected as a councillor in the former city of Gatineau and named substitute mayor for Robert Labine. In the 1999 municipal elections, he defeated Jean Deschenes by a small margin of 59 votes. [ cite news | author = Gauthier, Jean-Michel | title = Élections municipales 99 : Jean Deschênes perd son siège; De Sylva cause la grande surprise | publisher = Le Droit | date = November 8, 1999 | page = 5 ]

De Sylva was elected to the new City of Gatineau's Council in 2001 and was re-elected by acclamation in 2005. His priorities includes the realization of the sports complex that has been planned by the former city of Gatineau for several years. He also wants an increase of federal workers in his district as well as inside the city of Gatineau, the improvement of the city's transit service offered by the Société de transport de l'Outaouais and the completion of the widening of the Montee Paiement roadway to four lanes.

In 2006, there were reports that De Sylva was approached by the Conservative Party of Canada to run in a future election in the riding of Gatineau, however he later declined the offer. Opponents have however criticized him for been an opportunist since the Conservative Party was in power at the Canadian House of Commons. He was previously a party member of the Liberal Party of Canada and the Parti Québécois. [ cite news | author = Duquette, Patrick | title = Apres le PQ et le PLC, pourquoi pas le PCC? (After the Parti Québécois and Liberal Party of Canada, why not the Conservative Party of Canada? | publisher = Le Droit | date = June 15, 2006 | page = 6 ] [ cite news | author = Duquette, Patrick | title = Joseph De Sylva a decline l'offre des conservateurs pour la circonscription de Gatineau (Councillor declined offer from the Conservative Party for an electoral riding) | publisher = Le Droit | date = September 22, 2006 | page = 6 ]

In 2001, shortly after his election in the new city's council, De Sylva along with several other councillors requested a salary hike up to 10 000$. [ cite news | author = Larocque, Sylvain | title = Sitôt élus, des conseillers réclament une augmentation de salaire | publisher = Le Droit | date = November 28, 2001 | page = 2 ]

De Sylva is heavily involved in the community by volunteering several events or organizations within the neighborhood as well as organizations such as the Canadian Cancer Society and the United Way. He is also involved in the annual Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival that is held every September as well as the Maison de la Culture arts facility. Due to his volunteering he received a medal from the Governor General of Canada. He is also often present in the Portuguese community which is located in the Hull sector.

Until 2005, he was also the author and publisher of the Versant's community newspaper called "Le journal du Versant".

ee also

* Gatineau City Council

References

External links

* [http://www.ville.gatineau.qc.ca/conseil.asp Gatineau City Council]
* [http://josephdesylva.com/ Website of Joseph De Sylva]