The mayor of a small town north of Montreal is facing five charges of theft for allegedly taking bottles of Bacardi rum from a liquor store and leaving without paying. Crown prosecutors charged Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs Mayor John Dalzell, who is a former Montreal police officer, with theft under $5,000 for alleged offences on Oct. 28, Nov. 11, Nov. 22 and Nov. 29, 2025, as well as Feb. 3, 2026. “He stole from the SAQ a bottle of Bacardi,” the charge sheet stated, noting that the alleged thefts occurred at the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) Saint-Sauveur location off Highway 15. Dalzell pleaded not guilty on all counts and is due back in court on Jan. 22. Local newspaper, the Journal des Citoyens, noted that Dalzell won a city council byelection in 2024, having previously served a four-year term in the 1990s. He ran unopposed for mayor in 2025. He was the assistant director of the Montreal Urban Community Police Service between 1990 and 1997. The Governor General of Canada awarded Dalzell with a Police Exemplary Service Medal in 1986. He was appointed to the Canadian Advisory Council on National Security in 2005. Dalzell also serves on the Pays-d’en-Haut MRC council. Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs is a small town, founded in 1946, about 80 kilometres north of Montreal with a population of 4,100 people.
