Canada/A first day for elected municipal officials was celebrated on Thursday

The first "Journée des élus municipaux" was celebrated in Quebec on Thursday. The initiative takes place at the heart of Municipalities Week.

The event was set up by the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Andrée Laforest, to highlight their essential role as administrators and their contribution to society.

She launched the day with a video broadcast on platform X.

On the occasion of the first Municipal Elected Officials Day, I would like to express my deep gratitude and admiration for the work you do," said the Caquist MP for Chicoutimi.

Last June, the bill on the protection of elected officials was adopted. Under this law, citizens who intimidate, harass or improperly interfere with the work of an elected official are liable to a fine of up to $1,500.

Yes to awareness-raising

According to Petit-Saguenay mayor Philôme La France, an event to highlight the work of elected officials is an excellent awareness-raising initiative.

We're fighting against strong perceptions of elected officials. We know that there's a lot of bad press about politics in general. Municipal councillors in particular have been getting a taste of it for some years now. So I think it's important to run campaigns like this one to raise public awareness of what we do, the role we play, and the importance of the decisions we make and the actions we take. the importance of the decisions and actions we manage to take," he analyzed in an interview with Téléjournal Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean.

Almaty town councillor Audrée Villeneuve notes that elected officials can be the victims of some pretty scathing comments on social networks.

Of course, it's much easier to comment in front of a screen. There's also a lot of misinformation circulating, and sometimes it can really get out of hand and be perceived by the public in a completely different and erroneous way. [...] It gets really heavy if you have fun reading what's written in social media. We really need to have a filter, because otherwise it really risks undermining the work we do," shared the consultant.

Not always easy to get close to

As mayor of a municipality of less than 1,000 inhabitants, Philôme La France admits that it's difficult to put a barrier between his public political life and his personal life.

In small communities like ours, it can be dangerous at times when there are crises, when there's opposition between different citizens, when there's polarization because we're a small community and people know each other. It affects us a lot more because we often have family ties, friendships or neighborhood ties with these people, who may criticize us or disagree with actions or policies we may put in place," he replied.

To remedy this, he relies on transparency and citizen involvement in the decision-making process.

Lack of young people and women

Quebec currently has around 8,000 elected representatives in 1,100 municipalities. However, the number of women and young people remains low in many areas.

I can tell you that government subsidies to women's groups across Quebec have greatly helped to improve and increase the number of women and young people in municipal politics. Over the past 10 years, we've seen a significant increase," emphasized Audrée Villeneuve, whose council includes three women councillors in eight positions, and one mayor.

Source: ici.radio-canada.ca/