Prior to being mayor, Labeaume was a local businessman and chair of the Fondation de l’entrepreneurship organisation since 2003 and worked primarily in the mining industry.

[6] He was previously the political adviser of former Communications Minister and former Parti Québécois MNA of the riding of Vanier, Jean-François Bertrand from 1980 to 1983.

[9] During his first mandate as mayor, Labeaume also developed a reputation for speaking his mind and not always using the right words in front of the media.

[11] In another study in 2008, Labeaume ranked 10th in a list of the most mediatised personalities in Quebec, along with the then newly elected American president Barack Obama, Guy Carbonneau (coach of the Montreal Canadiens), and Stephen Harper.

[14][15] A couple of months before the elections of December 2009, on October 16 Labeaume announced his intention to go forward with the project of the new indoor arena.

[16] On September 10, 2010, Quebec premier Jean Charest announced the province would be ready to pay 45% percent of the bill for the new arena if Ottawa would do the same.

[17] In December 2010, after a couple of months of speculation, Prime Minister Harper announced the government had no intention of paying for these kinds of installations.

In March 2011, Labeaume announced that he was "passing the puck" to Pierre Karl Péladeau and the group Quebecor.