The two candidates disagreed on many substantive issues; in particular, Cousineau maintained his opposition to a merger with Hull and Aylmer, while Luck supported the plan.

After the election, local activist Sylvain Simard charged that Cousineau should resign as mayor due to being in a conflict-of-interest over property he co-owned near the city's proposed downtown core.

[14] This notwithstanding, he resigned as mayor in February 1988, saying that he had run an honest administration but no longer wanted to be a target for partisan attacks.

Cousineau worked for the Commission municipale du Québec from 1992 to 1998, when was appointed by the Canadian government to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada in Montreal.

[16] He was not re-appointed in November 2006, amid suggestions that new prime minister Stephen Harper was attempting to pack the board with its ideological allies.

[18] The following year, he argued that Quebec's proposed legislation on gender equity should formalize the province's commitment to economic and social rights.

[23] Source: "Cousineau wins, Luck continues to contest result" [mayoral recount], Ottawa Citizen, 16 November 1987, C1.