A first training will soon be offered in Quebec for elected municipal officials who have decided to leave political life or who will be beaten at the end of the November 7 election. The aim is to prepare ex-politicians for their career transition, which will follow exciting years.
After two terms as city councilor in Montreal, Christian Dubois suffered defeat in 2013. He knows that mourning politics can be difficult.
“The phone no longer rings, people are less interested in you. For a while, it still affected me mentally because from day to day we go from public life to private life, ”says the former Pierrefonds-Roxboro elected official who sat on the executive committee. .
The sting and the political disappointment disappeared after two years, says Mr. Dubois, who reoriented himself in the community environment as director of a residence and a mental health center.
The initiative of the Quebec Association of Former Elected Municipal Officers (AQAÉM) stems from the observation that the aftermath of a departure from politics can be difficult for elected officials and that no particular support exists for them, unlike at the federal and provincial levels.
“It’s as if they are leaving a job that they have invested a lot in, but there is nothing that allows them to make a transition to civilian life or resume a number of activities. In even cases, there are people who are no longer able to find a job, ”says the president of AQAÉM, Denis Lapointe, former mayor of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.
The training provided in virtual mode was designed by the Cégep Marie-Victorin Business Service Center, also in partnership with the Union of Quebec Municipalities. On the theme “Politics: what next?”, The program will provide tools on different themes such as redefining oneself on a personal and professional level.
“It’s to be able to land better,” says Véronique Coutu, coordinator of the CEGEP’s Business Service Center.
It aims to show that “there is a way to continue without politics,” says Mr. Dubois, also a member of the board of directors of the AQAÉM.
Social media impact
Used to offering training in preparation for retirement for provincial or federal civil servants, the college has developed a tailor-made program for elected officials, in which the psychosocial component occupies an important place. It takes into account several particularities of public life, including the impact of social networks.
“If we get criticized for four years on social media, it can still hurt our self-esteem. If you decide to find another job, you have to sort things out and put this aspect aside, ”says Ms. Coutu.
Participants will learn to rebuild themselves without the public eye, she says.
The CEGEP trainers will also talk about time management and change as well as the aspect of going from a public person to an anonymous person.
“There is an intense life and exchanges that take place with the people of the community. All that disappears, it is no longer you that we invite. How we can absorb this shock, explains Mr. Lapointe. I know people who have had little depressions, who have taken a year or two to reorganize themselves. We are not necessarily ready to leave such an intense world. ”
“Ambitious”
The training will also address legal and financial issues. In all, it will last four or five days, depending on whether the participant is considering retirement or not. Each session is scheduled for three hours for a total of 15 hours.
Professor and researcher in the education and pedagogy department of UQAM, Louis Cournoyer qualifies the content of the program as “highly relevant” and “well balanced”. However, the specialist in career development and counseling finds him “ambitious” in terms of the time devoted to the psychosocial component.
“We give about two times three hours for elements that require quite a lot of introspection,” observes Mr. Cournoyer. Working on related fears and coping strategies is often the content of a full one-hour meeting with the person. ”
But “if the intention is only to transmit information on these issues and the need to refer to competent professionals for subsequent support, that seems interesting to me,” says the guidance counselor.
The goal is rather that the participants leave the training with a reflection already well underway for the future, specifies the center of services to the companies of the CEGEP. The program plans to offer one-on-one support upon request.
Mr. Cournoyer indicates that a career transition process takes time, and that it is accompanied by experiences of emptiness, uncertainty, doubt and hopelessness.
The training will welcome in early November a first cohort of ten former elected officials who themselves have decided to leave politics. A second group will be able to take advantage of the program two weeks later.
A second training course is planned for winter 2022 for elected officials who will be defeated at the end of the November 7 election.