In Lévis, we vote little, and all on the same side, so much so that the current mayor, Gilles Lehouillier, controls all the seats on the municipal council. This year, a new political party has come to animate democratic life, but the task remains difficult.
In the last elections, Mayor Lehouillier won the vote with no less than 92% of the vote. In the city council, only one elected out of fifteen was not from his party.
Then “he muzzled any opposition by appointing the only person who was not part of his team to the very important city finance committee”, denounced the former mayor Jean-Luc Daigle of Saint-Romuald, in a letter published at the end of September in The sun.
It was in this context of apparent unanimity that the Repensons Lévis party was born. Founded by four young political enthusiasts, this party launched into the municipal arena with the declared aim of bringing back competition.
Its leader, Elhadji Mamadou Diarra, repeats that Lévis is “at the dawn of a new era”, while Gilles Lehouillier highlights the economic prosperity of the city and promises to better highlight the river and its tributaries, like the Chaudière River.
Three other independent candidates are in the race: Chamroeun Khuon a former NDP candidate, businesswoman Maryse Labranche and André Voyer, who was defeated by Mr. Lehouillier in 2017 with 8% of the vote.
This week, they were all participating in a debate in front of students from Cégep de Lévis at the invitation of their political science professor. At the end of the activity, four young women crossed by The duty said they had been particularly interested in discussions on debt and the environment. “It was the fun to see the differences between all the parties, ”said one of them. The four were determined to vote on November 7.
One of the cégépiennes said, however, that she had trouble understanding Mr. Voyer, whose words were more intellectual, with quotes from Emmanuel Kant or Alain Deneault in support. Concerned about the climate emergency, the latter was also alarmist about the democratic environment of his city. “70,000 people did not vote at all in the last elections,” he lamented.
With a participation rate of 36.5%, Lévis ranked far behind Montreal and Quebec in 2017, but a little above Longueuil and Laval.
A big quiet city
Faced with Quebec, the attitude of the voters of Lévis denotes “either a greater indifference, or a satisfaction” vis-à-vis the town hall, wrote the researchers Serge Belley, Louise Quesnel and Paul Villeneuve in a work on the municipal ones published. ten years ago.
That year in Lévis, the popularity of Mayor Danielle Roy-Marinelli was such that she had been elected by acclamation. A common phenomenon in small municipalities, but “rare” in towns with more than 100,000 inhabitants, the authors noted. With its 150,000 inhabitants, Lévis is today the seventh largest in Quebec.
How to explain this apathy on the political level? “It’s really a strange case,” said Philippe Dubois, doctoral student and researcher in municipal policy at Laval University. “We can hypothesize that as it has been, historically, a city in the shadow of its big sister, Quebec, and marked by a fragmentation of small guarded hunts, it is still in the construction of a real political scene. municipal council common to the new city of Lévis. “
Added to this is the world of life specific to the suburbs. A real “dormitory town”, lamented candidate Maryse Labranche during another radio debate this week. How to explain that a large city like Lévis does not have a large performance hall? she argued. “It doesn’t exist here, you have to go to Quebec. ”Also concerned about this lack of cultural vitality, candidate Chamroeun Khuon proposed to organize more“ festive events ”to nurture the“ feeling of belonging ”to the city.
Will the appearance of Repensons Lévis have a notable impact? Philippe Dubois is divided. “Rethink Lévis has re-established the conditions for us to have electoral competition,” he points out. “From there to knowing if it can allow a renewal of elected officials, or even of the town hall, it is another challenge. “
Rethinking Lévis is not advocating big changes. The new party is in favor of the third link as a whole, it emphasizes the improvement of services to citizens and does not question the town planning model of the city.
Its program is very much focused on citizen participation: advisory committees, youth wing, reinstatement of the second question period to city council.
Measures which, as relevant as they are, risk remaining abstract for people who do not follow municipal policy diligently.
Rethink Lévis has re-established the conditions for electoral competition. From there to knowing if it can allow a renewal of elected officials, or even of the town hall, it is another challenge.
Less present media
Are the people of Lévis satisfied or indifferent? Hard to say. According to Mr. Dubois, the presence of little news media and the resulting low media coverage do not help voters to position themselves. “We see in the studies that, when people feel they don’t have enough information about the election, they prefer to abstain. “
Especially since political fractures have always been difficult to pinpoint in Lévis, as if the mayors were passing the baton in order to always manage in the same way. Since the era of Jean Garon, the municipal space has been dominated by Danielle Roy-Marinelli and Gilles Lehouillier. The three clashed in the 2005 elections when Mr.me Roy-Marinelli and his Force 10 party caused the surprise by beating Mr. Garon.
When Mme Roy-Marinelli left politics, eight years later, Gilles Lehouillier took the head of Force 10 and was elected in turn.
Political life in Lévis is based on “great cycles”, according to Philippe Dubois. The only moment of rupture since the merger came with the surprise victory of Mme Roy-Marinelli against Jean Garon in 2009.
The former PQ minister who had been dismissed after a bad campaign where he was accused of having described opposition to the City as a “nuisance”. It just goes to show that the local population’s taste for consensus has its limits.
For the moment, no poll has been carried out, but Mr. Lehouillier does not seem worried. In debates this week, he didn’t even bother to criticize his opponents most of the time.
Paradoxically, the slightest gain in the opposition (in the districts, for example) will be a defeat for him, notes Mr. Dubois. “From the moment we control the entire Town Hall, we can only have an ‘electoral defeat’. “