Canada/Psychological support for elected municipal officials: a need in Abitibi-Témiscamingue

The funds promised by Quebec to improve psychological support services for municipal councillors have been well received in the region, even if some feel that the measures come too late.

There's never a dull moment in municipal politics. It's 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," says Claire Bolduc, Prefect of the Témiscamingue MRC.She welcomes the creation of a telephone hotline to help elected municipal officials and their family members.

Ms. Bolduc believes that local elected officials need support, especially as they are often on the front line of citizen services.

We've seen many newcomers to the municipal world over the past eight years," she points out. We've done a lot to promote the role of women and young people, but in some respects we've forgotten to mention the responsibilities, obligations and realities of elected municipal officials.

The politician compares the function of an elected official to a vocation where it is often difficult to set limits, particularly in a crisis context, such as the recent forest fires in Abitibi-Témiscamingue and Nord-du-Québec.

I have elected officials who work, who have jobs and who give all their spare time to their municipality. They knew that before they arrived, but that's not the case for all elected officials," observes Claire Bolduc.

A long-standing need

Some 200 kilometers away, in Malartic, Mayor Martin Ferron also feels that the measures announced by Québec are necessary. He believes, however, that this good start could have been made much sooner, given the existing needs.

Mr. Ferron cites the example of 2015, when the activities of the Canadian Malartic mine shook the social peace of the community. We were left to our own devices," he says.

The hardest thing was the threats, the threats of assault, the intimidation. I experienced a lot of that during those years. It was very difficult. When you go to bed at night and you're afraid of being attacked, it's not pleasant. You don't get into this job to experience that.

A quote from Martin Ferron, mayor of Malartic since 2013

Nearly 800 elected municipal officials have left their posts in the last three years in Quebec. This was notably the case for the former mayor of Macamic, Lina Lafrenière, who recently admitted that she felt intimidated and harassed.

Source: ici.radio-canada.ca/