Two years after the last municipal elections in Quebec, the municipal arena remains empty. Since November 2021, no fewer than 552 by-elections have been organized in the province and the bleeding is heaviest in Bas-Saint-Laurent.
Since the last election, 126 Lower Laurentian elected officials have left the municipal world, representing 15.7% of the region’s elected officials.
These departures have forced the holding of 85 by-elections, including 42 since January, making Bas-Saint-Laurent the region with the most empty municipal councils in Quebec, according to Élections Québec.
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A trend that is far from affecting only Bas-Saint-Laurent, as can be seen from the figures of last January, which recorded 311 departures since the elections of November 7, 2021 in Quebec.
However, you should know that Élections Québec does not list the reasons that justify these departures. Some are resignations, while others result from deaths, such as that of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière mayor Rosaire Ouellet, who died in July after leading the municipality for almost a decade.
“Within two years, we have broken all the by-election records we have seen in the past,” says Jacques Demers, president of the Fédération québécoise des Municipalities (FQM), sadly, describing these figures as worrying.
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In Sainte-Paule, in Matanie, the question of the development of Lac du Portage has caused so much debate that three local councilors resigned from their positions in August, when the community was already facing serious tensions. (archive photo)
Photo: Radio-Canada / Véronique Duval
“Seeing that there are people resigning does not surprise me in general,” reacts Bruno Paradis, president of the regional table of elected local officials of Bas-Saint-Laurent (TREMBSL). “The nature of the positions, in my opinion, has changed a lot, they have an enormous responsibility,” he continues, suggesting that the high numbers in Bas-Saint-Laurent could be explained by the size and density of the territory.
Often communities do not have the financial resources to face the realities of our areas.
Tensions, intimidation and work overload would unsurprisingly explain this wave of departures, lists Jacques Demers, who is also mayor of Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley. The elected official has often commented on the challenges faced by leading municipalities large and small that face various problems, sometimes social, sometimes economic.
The conundrum of narrow media
Living in communities where everyone knows everyone can certainly have its advantages, but it can also quickly become a local political trap.
Talk to the elected officials of Pohénégamook in Témiscouata who are trying as best they can to find a snow plow as winter approaches.
The mayor could not participate in the investigation of the tender’s sole bidder because his brother is one of the company’s shareholders, as was councilor Diane Bouchard, who preferred to postpone her resignation to eliminate any appearance of conflict interest.
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Finding a snowplow in Pohénégamook turns out to be more complicated than expected. (archive photo)
Photo: Radio-Canada / François Gagnon
There is a problem for small businesses getting bids, the city’s general manager, Simon Grenier, acknowledged in an interview last month. In a press release, the authorities of Pohénégamookois called for consideration of the involvement of elected entrepreneurs in local politics, given the difficult recruitment of local councilors.
Because in smaller communities, adhering to a code of ethics can be like walking on eggshells as you go to the only grocery store, supermarket, or gas station in the village. “It is not something that encourages people to come forward and often they are important actors for a community, so we lose really interesting resources,” laments the president of the TREMBSL, Bruno Paradis.
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The president of the regional table of elected local officials of Bas-Saint-Laurent, prefect of the MRC of La Mitis and mayor of Price, Bruno Paradis (archive photo)
Photo: Radio-Canada / François Gagnon
This is precisely one of the mainstays of the FQM, which says it is increasing its interventions with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs to reduce conflict of interest requirements. For example, a consultant involved in a decision could be excluded from the deliberations without having to resign.
We must find a legal method to allow them to sit, emphasizes Jacques Demers. These are often companies that we care deeply about, and we are proud to see these elected officials on our local councils.
Above all, this must not be an additional cost for the community, which has to travel dozens of kilometers to refuel because it cannot do so locally.
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Jacques Demers, president of the Quebec Association of Municipalities and mayor of Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley (archive photo)
Photo: Quebec Federation of Municipalities
Added to this balancing act is a climate in which insults and threats between elected officials and citizens are commonplace in several municipalities. In this regard, the President of the FQM recalls that they now have access to insurance to take legal action against citizens who intimidate or harass elected officials.
The pressure also increases with social media, adds Bruno Paradis, recalling the numerous rudenesses to which he has fallen victim throughout his career.
Costly resignations
It goes without saying that communities cannot afford to lose elected officials. Organizing by-elections is a lengthy and costly process that often monopolizes their resources.
Jacques Demers gives the example of the appointment of an electoral president (often the general director), who has to increase his workload overnight, but also the creation of electoral lists and municipal districts. All this with a reduced workforce and a bill that can run into thousands of dollars.
“We are not currently working on other files and not all municipalities employ full-time staff, so we are adding overtime,” explains the president of the FQM.
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The Sept-Îles byelection to fill the positions of mayor and two city councilors could cost the city more than $100,000. (archive photo)
Photo: Radio-Canada / Marc-Antoine Mageau
In Sept-Îles, the local council has budgeted $136,000 to organize Sunday’s by-election. It is quite unusual that the city had to spend nearly $10,000 just to announce the mayor’s resignation due to a lack of staff at the time of the announcement.
Sufficient training?
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The village of Blanc-Sablon on the Basse-Côte-Nord must elect a third mayor in two years. (archive photo)
Photo: Radio-Canada / Lambert Gagné-Coulombe
When Blanc-Sablon mayor Andrew Etheridge became the second person to resign in two years in the Basse-Côte-Nord municipality, he pointed to a lack of training in the municipal sector. Aside from ethics training, there was little that could teach us from one day to the next what a mayor does, he wrote to Radio-Canada.
It’s rare that someone who has been there for a year or two has already taken advantage of all the training, counters Jacques Demers, who considers the workshops sufficient for elected officials.
However, the FQM president wants local election candidates to be trained before they vote. People need to understand what they are getting into.
If training is necessary, Bruno Paradis says more could be done to provide psychological support to elected officials, especially in a context where their mental health is compromised. It’s not a job, it’s a role, he reminds us. We have no insurance, no psychological support.
The former mayor of Gatineau, Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin, who spoke on the information program “Zone”, also believes this. I think we’re there. Crises are increasing, the mayor’s job is becoming more and more difficult… Whether we like it or not, we need people to manage our cities.