Canada/Sainte-Paule has a full municipal council

All positions on the 300-person village council are now filled following Sunday's election of the councillor to fill the last remaining vacancy.

The by-election was won by Réjean Fournier with 140 votes, or 63% of the votes cast. The participation rate was 73%, which reflects the importance of this election for the residents of the village.

The new mayor of Sainte-Paule, Philippe Savard, welcomes such a participation. "It shows that we had hot topics in the municipality!

In comparison, less than one out of two voters in Quebec went to the polls to elect their municipal council in the November 2021 general municipal elections. On that occasion, all of Sainte-Paule's elected officials were elected unopposed, except for position no. 4, which was later returned to the polls.

The newly elected council member and two other council members were also elected unopposed at the end of March.

These four new council members form a team, "a kind of mini-government," according to Philippe Savard, without having a party line. "We're really independent," says Savard.

It is therefore the end of a cycle for Sainte-Paule, after a last year marked by dissensions and resignations within the council. During this period, two mayors, several councillors and a director general threw in the towel.

Collaboration with the former council

After being highly critical of the previous council in an interview after his election, the new mayor this time praised the work of the three female councillors who have managed the municipality in recent months.

So far," he said, "I think it's been very positive, you learn a lot from them. We need to know what happened before, we need their experience and knowledge on many issues."

"I think they were really brave. They really deserve our respect."

- A quote from Philippe Savard, Mayor of Sainte-Paule

A first "calm and serene" session, according to the mayor, of the municipal council took place last Monday. "The tension had really fallen. We had a little question period. Frankly, it's encouraging," says Philippe Savard.

The elected official hopes to table the municipality's 2023 budget at the next council meeting.

Evaluating lake protection measures

In recent months, a draft bylaw that aimed to prohibit the construction of new homes in the wooded area surrounding Lac du Portage, a popular lake located on the territory of Sainte-Paule, created a stir among both council members and the population.

Mayor Philippe Savard has already indicated that he wishes to re-evaluate this draft by-law. The municipal council is still consulting with various stakeholders before deciding what to do with it. "We are still at the stage of gathering information," said the mayor.

However, the mayor is reassuring. "There are 35% of the people I read who are really worried about the quality of Lac du Portage. It is certain that we will have to reassure these people. We really want to go for the whole municipality.

For his part, André Mathieu, the new president of the Association du lac du Portage, welcomes the return to normalcy in the municipality. He says he appreciates the openness to collaboration on the part of the newly elected officials.

Source: ici.radio-canada.ca