At some point in the recent past those leaves were attacked by a caterpillar that, however, didn't find laurel much to its taste.
I have no experience of Acadian pests, but an educated guess says inchworms are the culprits. If the problem presents itself again you can try picking the caterpillars by hand (if the plant is small and/or the caterpillars aren't many) or using Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.) aizawai or kurstaaki. Please note B.t. works by ingestion so caterpillars will have to keep on eating for it to be effective.
PS: don't worry too much about Bay laurel. It's one of the hardest plants to kill and if left unchecked will become invasive sooner than you'd like.
