” What is that? Is this my Quebec of 2023? »
This cry from the heart of the mayor of Gatineau was echoed in the media last September, when she urged the Minister of Social Services Lionel Carmant to “do his job” on the issue of homelessness. The response was scathing: “lower your voice”.
France Bélisle never lowered her voice, but she gave up.
She announced her immediate resignation Thursday morning. Because of the toxic climate at the city council. Because of the bullying. Because of death threats. Because of the impact of all this on his health…
What she described is heartbreaking. “His” Quebec, mine and yours, should take a moment to look in the mirror.
Urgent collective reflection is required.
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The departure of France Bélisle will cause shock waves in her city of 291,000 inhabitants. The political climate has been tense since her election as independent mayor in 2021. There have been low blows, intimidation, extreme partisanship.
An election will be called to replace her, and perhaps this vote will help clear the air a little at city hall.
But the repercussions will go far beyond the borders of Outaouais. It is the municipal world as a whole that is in crisis in Quebec, and nothing points to an improvement in things.
Worse: what France Bélisle described to justify her resignation is a (sad) reflection of our society as a whole, I find.
People are more and more impulsive, rude, violent. Often in the anonymity of social networks, but also in everyday life. At the grocery store, at the restaurant, on the street…
Municipal elected officials are in the front row to receive all this anger, on a daily basis, when they live their lives or exercise their functions.
“People expect us to have big shells, but it’s becoming extremely difficult,” summarized Martin Damphousse, president of the Union of Municipalities of Quebec (UMQ) and mayor of Varennes.
The shells begin to crack, if not completely crumble.
There are legitimate criticisms from citizens, who have every right to follow their elected officials, as long as it is done with respect. But there is also more and more incivility between politicians, in town halls.
Latest case in the running: a free-for-all at Quebec City Hall, between two municipal councilors, over a story of “likes” on Facebook. One accuses the other of having it “ chested », therefore for having given him a blow to the chest (1). Eh yes.
Of the moronne in its pure form, which only further degrades the image of politicians. And another example which risks discouraging aspiring candidates from jumping into the arena for the municipal election of November 2025…
“You will allow me to worry about the slippages, the loss of nobility associated with the role of politician and the public service which is no longer popular,” noted France Bélisle on Thursday during her press conference.
His fears are well founded.
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Statistics confirm the harshness of the climate in the cities and villages of Quebec. Almost 10% of all mayors and city councilors have resigned since the last election in 2021.
We are talking about 762 elected officials, out of a total of 8062!
At the same period, four years earlier, 542 elected officials had resigned during their mandate, according to figures provided to me by the Director General of Elections of Quebec. The gap is significant and reflects a deterioration of the climate in just a few years.
The number of resignations is “historic”, underlines the president of the UMQ. And maybe we haven’t seen anything yet. He fears a wave of departures from next November.
Why this date? Because mayors and councilors who resign less than a year before a municipal election know that this will not result in the automatic (and costly) triggering of a vote. Many endure their sentence while waiting for November 2024.
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The harassment experienced by municipal elected officials has more than one consequence, as one can imagine. The ravages of the phenomenon were documented in a study by public communications professor Mireille Lalancette, of the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières.
Among these: “the silencing” of the people targeted. Basically, elected officials will often choose to accept attacks without saying anything, when they do not resign outright.
A politician told me about the threats and intimidation she suffered a few years ago, from a colleague and rival. She contacted the police at the time. But it would never have crossed her mind to publicly denounce this situation, she admitted to me.
She is delighted, if one can use such an expression, to see that things are beginning to be named. Consider the exit of France Bélisle, or the openness shown by several mayors regarding their physical or mental health problems in recent months: Valérie Plante in Montreal, Évelyne Beaudin in Sherbrooke, Jean Lamarche in Trois-Rivières…
Will tongues be loosened from now on to denounce unacceptable situations? Will citizens and politicians take a deep breath before going to waste or hitting their heads? chest?
It will be “important that certain changes take place from within the councils with a sincere desire and for the benefit of citizens,” argued Minister of Municipal Affairs Andrée Laforest on Thursday.
Big contract.
In the short term, I could suggest this to the most frustrated: good psychotherapy.