The municipal elections of November 7 made it possible to elect a greater number of diversity candidates in Montreal. One third of elected officials in Montreal are from visible or ethnic minorities, according to a count made by Elections Montreal.
We already knew that a majority of women were elected in Montreal last month, 61 women against 42 men. But data released Monday by Elections Montreal confirms that the new cohort of elected officials is more diverse than in 2017. In total, 17 elected officials identified themselves as belonging to a visible minority and 17 others to an ethnic minority. One elected, indicated to be disabled. This is Laurence Parent, Borough Councilor for Projet Montréal in the De Lorimier district. No elected representative identified himself as indigenous.
These 35 elected representatives representing minority groups are significantly more numerous than in 2017 when they were only 21. And for 24 of these people, this is a first election.
These data were collected by Elections Montreal in the light of information given by 97 elected officials (out of 103) who completed a self-identification form at the end of the ballot.
More young people
Young people are also more numerous, which has raised the average age of elected Montrealers from 52 years, in 2017, to 49 years this year. Of the 103 elected, there are 17 aged 35 and under (13 women and 4 men) and the youngest is Younes Boukala, 26, who sits on the Lachine borough council. Elected at the age of 35 as mayor of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Gracia Kasoki Katahwa is for her part the youngest among the 19 mayors of the district. Elected officials aged 35 and under are also highly educated since 88.2% of them have a university degree.
In this regard, data from Elections Montreal shows that 74 elected officials from Montreal have completed university studies. Of these, 46 are women and 28 are men.
The elected representatives of diversity are also more numerous on the executive committee chaired by Dominique Ollivier, the first black woman to hold this position. Six of the 18 members of the executive committee who answered Elections Montreal’s questionnaire come from minority groups and they are all women.
During the Montreal election campaign, nearly half (48%) of the candidates polled by Elections Montreal identified themselves as either belonging to minority groups. This proportion was 32% in 2017.