While having his coffee Monday morning, Franklin Laguerre was shocked when he saw the members of the new municipal council of Longueuil. He had never seen that since he settled in this city on the South Shore, 40 years ago: nearly half of the elected officials are first or second generation immigrants. They are young. Many are women. The mayor herself, Catherine Fournier, is 29 years old.
” Congratulation ! You made me proud. I went to vote with enthusiasm ”, launched the grandfather of Haitian origin to the new elected officials of Longueuil, gathered in front of the headquarters of Catherine Fournier, on the way to Chambly.
Franklin Laguerre arrived honking his horn, making big gestures and with a big smile like that. It was almost floating, in the November sun. The elected officials who were discussing with the representatives of To have to were also experiencing great emotions: almost the entire city council was replaced in Sunday’s elections. Catherine Fournier’s team, Coalition Longueuil, won 13 of the 15 councilor seats, in addition to the town hall.
“A new generation is coming to power”, not only in Longueuil, but in several cities in Quebec, underlined the newly elected mayor. In Sherbrooke, for example, the “firsts” have multiplied: the first black elected councilor, the first immigrant councilor and the first woman mayor in the person of Evelyne Beaudin, of the Sherbrooke Citizen Party.
The contrast between the former municipal councilors of Longueuil and those who won the election is striking. The ladies and gentlemen of a certain age, all so-called “native” Quebecers, have given way to fellow citizens who are more representative of national diversity.
“We represent the Quebec in which we live,” says Lysa Bélaïcha, born in Algeria 22 years ago, arrived in Quebec at the age of three. “Yes, I am black, but I am from Quebec,” adds Rolande Balma, 21, who arrived in 2014 from Burkina Faso. The two youngest elected officials from Longueuil are studying at university (respectively in Quebec studies and in finance).
They have one thing in common with their colleagues Affine Lwalalika, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Alvaro Cueto, born in Quebec to Chilean parents: the four are in love with Quebec. From their neighborhood. From their city. Of the French language. They feel at home and want to “give back” to their neighbors. They owe their political commitment to Catherine Fournier, who had the “audacity” to believe in them despite their little experience in politics.
“Big changes always start with the young. When I meet voters who tell me about M’s ageme Fournier, I remind them that René Lévesque’s first government was made up of young people, ”says Alvaro Cueto, who is a secondary school history teacher in Quebec.
Their electoral commitments reflect those of their generation: to transform Longueuil, a city of “tanks” par excellence, into a city of bicycles and public transport. Slow down traffic, which threatens young newly settled families. Promote local shops. Curb urban sprawl. Protect green spaces against real estate development.
Voters recognize each other
In Sherbrooke, three immigrant or visible minority candidates, all members of the Sherbrooke Citizen Party, will also have their place on the municipal council. Met on the floor of the town hall, Laure Letarte-Lavoie, Fernanda Luz and Raïs Kibonge discuss under the benevolent gaze of their new mayor, still intoxicated by the victory.
“They say that in municipal politics, we are closer to the people. But if no one can identify with the council, it is not true that you can practice proximity policy and cover blind spots in society, ”explains Laure Letarte-Lavoie, a young social worker turned unionist, who has was adopted in China at the age of five months.
Manager in the health sector, her colleague Fernanda Luz, a Brazilian of origin who arrived 12 years ago, for her part noticed the effect she had when she went door to door. “For some, just the fact of seeing that we wear like them this difference on the skin, in the accent, the hair… They feel represented,” she says.
Raïs Kibonge, who left the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2005 to immigrate to Quebec, chose to present himself first as a citizen who would work for the good of all, regardless of his origins. But he can see that the presence of minorities like him has a “side effect”, that of allowing a greater number of Sherbrooke residents of various origins to project themselves into society, or even to get involved in active politics. “In 2017, at the entrance of a polling station, there were people from diverse backgrounds who winked at me, as if to say ‘we recognize each other'”, says the one who worked until most recently at the office of the member for Québec solidaire Christine Labrie.
Encourage change
Next to them, all smiles, the new mayor, barely 33 years old, does not hide that recruiting candidates from visible minorities is part of the values - and the strategy – of her Sherbrooke citizen party. “If we just let go of the free political market, those who will spontaneously have the reflex to get started, these are the people who will have encountered fewer obstacles in their lives,” suggests Evelyne Beaudin. Hence the importance, according to her, of having parties like hers, which solicit people who would never have thought of getting started.
She also says that she has focused on recruiting female candidates. “The men, they came on their own. But recruiting women was really difficult. They wanted to think long and talk about it with 12-15 people. And when you target a woman who also comes from diversity, it’s another layer of challenges, ”notes Mme Beaudin.