When he sought election as borough mayor in 2013, media reports described Parenteau as forty-two years old and the owner of an orthopedics supply store in Verdun.

The following March, after an internal investigation into the awarding of construction permits in the borough, he announced the dismissal of Verdun's chief public works director Pierre Boutin.

Although Boutin was cleared by the investigation, Parenteau justified the dismissal on the grounds that "the link of trust between a mayor and his borough director is essential to work on any serious administrative reform.

"[4] Parenteau subsequently said that preferential treatment and insider connections between developers and civil servants had cost taxpayers at least $1.5 million in lost profits.

[5] Parenteau arranged to remove about 1,500 tons of soil from an abandoned snow dump near the St. Lawrence River in April 2014, six months after it had been deposited and shortly after it was discovered to have been contaminated with creosote.