John Dalzell
Introduction
John Dalzell is the mayor of Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs, a small municipality in Quebec’s Laurentian region about an hour northwest of Montreal, who resigned from every elected office he held after being charged with repeatedly stealing bottles of rum from a provincial liquor store. Dalzell, 80, gave up both the mayoralty and his seat on the regional county municipality, and his resignations took effect on Friday, November 6, 2026.
Background Information
Dalzell was no political newcomer when the charges surfaced. He first served as a councilor for Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs before winning the mayor’s office, which he held for roughly a year at the time of his resignation. Alongside the municipal job, he sat on the regional council of the Municipalité régionale de comté des Pays-d’en-Haut, the supra-local government covering the Laurentians.
Before entering municipal politics, Dalzell spent his career in policing: he is a former senior officer with the Montreal police. That background made the petty-theft allegations all the more striking when Quebec’s prosecutor’s office filed charges in court.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Charged; resigned from both of his elected offices. Dalzell faces theft allegations filed by Quebec’s prosecutor’s office and stepped down as mayor and regional councilor the same week they became public.
According to the Quebec prosecutor’s office, Dalzell is accused of stealing bottles of rum from a SAQ store — the provincial liquor retailer — in Saint-Sauveur, a neighboring town in the Laurentians. The charges filed in court allege the incidents took place on five separate dates between October 2025 and February 2026, and in each case the stolen items were bottles of Bacardi rum.
Dalzell did not contest the basic conduct, whatever the courts decide about the charges. In a news release announcing his resignation, he wrote: “I recently committed an act that I deeply regret and for which I take full responsibility.” He added a line aimed directly at the standards of his office: “Citizens have the right to expect impeccable conduct from their elected officials.”
He attributed the behavior to a health problem he said he had not recognized soon enough, said he would be dedicating himself fully to his recovery going forward, and asked for privacy for himself and his family. He gave up the Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs mayoralty and his seat on the MRC des Pays-d’en-Haut council, with both resignations effective Friday.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The immediate consequence was the loss of both elected positions. The municipality said its administration would continue serving citizens and that a byelection would be held shortly to choose a successor.
Beyond the resignation itself, the case landed as an unusual one for Quebec municipal politics: an 80-year-old mayor — and retired senior police officer — charged with a string of small liquor-theft incidents stretching across five dates over five months, resigning with an apology rather than a denial. The allegations remain charges, not convictions, and the case proceeds through the courts.
Current Status
Dalzell is out of office, his resignation from the mayoralty and the regional council both effective as of November 6, 2026. He faces charges filed by Quebec’s prosecutor’s office alleging five thefts from the Saint-Sauveur SAQ store between October 2025 and February 2026. Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs is preparing a byelection. No court outcome has been reported.
Impact on Their Career/Life
A career that ran from senior ranks of the Montreal police to the mayor’s office of a Laurentian town ended with a self-authored apology and two resignation letters. Dalzell framed what came next in personal terms — recovery, privacy, family — rather than political ones. Whatever the criminal process produces, his elected career is already over: the byelection will fill a seat he no longer contests, and the “impeccable conduct” standard he invoked is the measure his own resignation letter asked citizens to keep applying to public officials.
Sources
- CBC News, “Mayor of Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs, Que., resigns following alcohol theft accusations,” November 7, 2026. source