Between them, Isabelle Lessard, Stéphane Boyer and Michaël Pilote were 87 years old and barely 6 years of experience at the town hall when tragedy struck their community. How did these chosen young people hold the helm when their city was going through the storm? By sleeping very little, giving their 200%… and sometimes going to rest with their parents!
The three are unanimous: regardless of age, there is nothing that can prepare a mayor to face a crisis. “It’s not easy to manage a tragedy, summarizes Stéphane Boyer, elected mayor of Laval at 33 years old. Crises happen, they impose themselves and they escape our control. »
At the beginning of February, a bus driver threw his 20-ton car against a daycare center in the Sainte-Rose district, in Laval. Two children perish in the drama and a shock wave shakes the third city of Quebec. Her community, upset by such a senseless act of violence, needs a shoulder to console her: it will be against that of Stéphane Boyer in particular that she will find some comfort.
“A big part of the ordeal is a human challenge, it is to channel the emotions that people can experience and to be a moral support, explains the mayor, now 35 years old. When we spend a day meeting victims, emotionally it is often difficult to manage. A crisis like this, I can say, is a crash course we receive as mayors. »
“Age has nothing to do”
“You never, ever think it’s going to happen to you,” adds Michaël Pilote, mayor of Baie-Saint-Paul. When it happens, for example, you have no choice but to live it, to manage the situation and to give your 200%, because the people elected you to be their mayor and to be their standard bearer. »
When we spend a day meeting victims, emotionally it is often difficult to manage. A crisis like this, I can say, is a crash course we receive as mayors.
1er last may, a deluge flooded downtown Baie-Saint-Paul, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people and scarring the heart of the community. A week and a half later, the mayor “celebrated” his entry into his thirties in the middle of the crisis, exhausted by nights of barely “two or three hours of sleep”.
“As long as you haven’t experienced it, it remains abstract. You may have seen how it is elsewhere, having seen Premier Legault’s press briefings on television when it was COVID or those of Lucien Bouchard and André Caillé during the ice storm, as long as you don’t ‘didn’t hear your cell phone ringing every two minutes because you have to make such a decision, because people need this, need that, or because people are panicking and you have to reassure them, it’ is impossible to understand. »
At 29, almost 30, Michaël Pilote had to deal with the media spotlight. Overnight, disaster struck his world and the cameras of Quebec, and even further afield, were focused on him.
When it happens, for example, you have no choice but to live it, to manage the situation and to give your 200%, because the people elected you to be their mayor and to be their standard bearer.
“There are international media who were interested in us, our press briefings were broadcast live on all the channels, the programs stopped on television when we started to speak, says the elected representative of Charlevoix. It threw us on the big screen: it was the first time I did that, so it took us out of our comfort zone. »
Age, according to the two mayors, has nothing to do with the ability to stand at the bedside of his battered community. “I dare to believe that this is not a negative factor in our ability to get through crises,” says Stéphane Boyer. What is different, at our age, is surely the way we manage them, in particular by using social networks a lot to keep the population informed. »
“The person may be 25 or 70 years old, but they may also be able to do the job, maintains Michaël Pilote. Everything comes from leadership: you have to be able to remain calm in this, to surround yourself well, to communicate well, then to use common sense. That, some have it at 20, others never have it. »
A queen in Chapais
At 23, Isabelle Lessard had to watch over Chapais while historic forest fires threatened the small town. The decision to evacuate the premises or not was up to him, a heavy choice to bear for such young shoulders.
“It’s going to sound funny like that, but I’m pleasantly surprised by the reaction I got,” she explains. We never really know how we are going to react in a situation like that. Even if I had read and re-read my binder on emergency measures to prepare, it is so different in practice, we cannot be 100% ready. »
I just had no choice: I really took on my role as mayor and I put my heart into it. I said to myself: “OK, there are 1500 people who are counting on me, let’s go, I’m in gear and I’m doing my job.”
She admits it straight away: before the crisis, she liked to mature her decisions before making them. “I’m not necessarily recognized as a person who works that well under pressure,” says Isabelle Lessard. The braziers allowed her to prove, to her community as much as to herself, what she was capable of.
“I just had no choice: I really took on my role as mayor and I put my heart into it. I said to myself: “OK, there are 1500 people who are counting on me, let’s go, I gear up and I do my job.” »
Just imagining dealing with crises like this several times a year, my God, it tires me. I’m not ready to replace François Legault tomorrow morning… but it sure makes me want to develop a little more!
The role of mayor does not eclipse that of daughter. At 23, Isabelle Lessard was lucky, in these difficult times, to have her parents to watch over her. “My parents were great, but they were like a dad and a mom. They were proud, but worried at the same time. They wanted me to rest and they asked me: “Are you eating well, are you sleeping too?” When we were talking about evacuation, they were like, “No, no, no, we can’t leave you here alone!” It felt good to be able to rely on them when, in my professional life, I couldn’t show that I was tired. At home, I could rest, breathe, close my eyes a little. »
Her image as mayor has also changed in the light of the crisis. In the past, doubt could remain in the minds of some with regard to a mayor born in 2000. “The crisis made it possible to confirm to people, she said, that I had my place. »
She also broadened her political ambitions.
“Several people have said to me, ‘You handled it like a queen, I could easily see you pursuing your career higher, being Prime Minister.” I’m putting a stop to it a bit because I’m not out of it yet and I’m exhausted, she laughs. Just imagining dealing with crises like this several times a year, my God, it tires me. I’m not ready to replace François Legault tomorrow morning… but it sure makes me want to develop a little more!