The day after the municipal elections, five of the ten largest cities in Quebec elected a woman as mayor. But can we really speak of a pink wave? Of the 1,080 candidates and mayoral candidates, 76% of elected officials across the province are men, according to preliminary election results.
However, women’s victories in the key cities of the province carry considerable weight, believes Daniel Côté, president of the Union of Quebec Municipalities (UMQ). “It’s inspiring for women who would like to be in municipal politics to see Valérie Plante and Catherine Fournier at the head of major Quebec cities,” he said. These women brought to power are likely to greatly inspire female candidates in the coming years, assures the president.
At the end of election night, Valérie Plante was re-elected in the metropolis, Catherine Fournier in Longueuil, France Bélisle elected as first mayor in Gatineau, Évelyne Beaudin in Sherbrooke and Julie Dufour in Saguenay. These mayors alone manage 31% of the province’s population.
“This is good news for parity. We take steps forward with each election. With all the wave of inspiration that these new mayors will instill, I have the impression that we will continue to progress towards parity, ”adds Mr. Côté.
Historical representation
One thing is certain, women are more present than ever before on the municipal scene. In the last election, 207 women were elected to a post of mayor and 2,360 to a post of councilor. This year, they are respectively 252 (44 more) and 2536 (176 more).
Although the representation of women at the town hall still remains far from parity, with 23% this year, it is still a historic result: in 2005, they formed only 13% of the elected officials of the town hall of the province, 10 percentage points lower than today.
This breakthrough is just as comparable with the results of the last elections, where there were 18.9% of mayors. In 4 years, their representation has jumped by more than 3 percentage points. The same goes for the councilors, who went from 34.5% in the last municipal election to 38.2% this year.
Make way for youth
With elected officials like Catherine Fournier, aged 29, Stéphane Boyer, elected mayor of Laval at 33, and even Isabelle Lessard, the youngest mayor in history elected in Chapelais at only 21 years old, the elections have certainly makes way for youth.
According to a count of To have to, the average age of the mayors of the 6 largest cities in Quebec does not even reach 40 years. In fact, the average age of Bruno Marchand (Quebec), Valérie Plante (Montreal), France Bélisle (Gatineau), Évelyne Beaudin (Sherbrooke), Stéphane Boyer (Laval) and Catherine Fournier (Longueuil) is 39 years.
This youth is particularly felt in women. Indeed, 43.5% of elected officials aged 55 and under are women, according to the preliminary portrait of the Fédération québécoise des municipalities (FQM), which emphasizes that these results show a strong trend towards the parity zone.
Of the 33 mayors aged 18 to 34, there are 13 women and 20 men. Among elected officials aged between 35 and 44, 41 women and 81 men. Among the older mayors, men take up a majority of the representation.
“We were expecting a wind of change in these elections because there were still several experienced elected officials who did not stand for re-election. But from there to have the wind of youth like the one that seems to have blown over Quebec… ”, wonders Daniel Côté of the UMQ.
Although the president notes this impetus towards youth and the constant progression towards parity within the municipal councils, the latter wishes to continue his fight “good year, bad year” with the commissions of the organization. “We do not change morals between two elections and in a snap, it’s a long-term job,” he concludes.