Local elected officials from across Quebec should no longer than ” sandbag for a section of the population that no longer hesitates to intimidate and threaten them, supports the Quebec Federation of Municipalities (FQM).
• Also read: Intimidation of Elected Officials: Collective action is needed
The latest example is that of Wickham Mayor Ian Lacharité at Drummond’s MRC, who resigned from his post this week, citing the “intimidation” and “threats” he and his family are said to have faced. The situation would have escalated according to different views in the file of the fire brigade. A report will also be made to the police. “We made a deal with my spouse. We said to each other if it’s either my spouse or the kids then of course I’m going because I’m choosing my family,” he said yesterday.
tenfold problem
Mr Lacharité said he was disappointed to have to leave a position to which he was duly popularly elected in 2021. “I don’t need that because I earn well,” he said. But a person whose main income is this would have had no income and would not be entitled to unemployment. There is no specific police protection program for an elected official’s family. »
Mr. Lacharité argued that the advent of social networks “magnified the problem tenfold” by giving “people who stir up malice” a platform of choice.
resignation protocol
Accompanied by around twenty elected community representatives, Jacques Demers, President of the FQM, signs a letter today giving examples of unacceptable cases. These include flat car tyres, letters of intimidation and even threats against the children of elected officials.
“There have never been so many elections [partielles] after the elections [générales] because we’ve never seen so many resignations. Bullying seems to be becoming more evident and there is an urgency to act,” he said.
According to him, “Two years ago we ran after young people and women to get them involved in the community world. We’ll do it again in two years. It’s high time we focused our work on this issue.” For Stéphanie Lacoste, Prefect and Mayor of Drummondville, this phenomenon is of increasing concern. “It’s not because we accept holding public office that it gives people the right to show violence,” she said.
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