Quebec needs people to run for local office, but they keep resigning

Municipal leaders across Quebec are looking for ways to get young people, especially women, to run for local office in next year's elections, but that is a tall order given the well-documented incidents of harassment and intimidation faced by elected officials in the province.

As many as 800 municipal councillors — 10 per cent of the roughly 8,000 people elected to local office in 2021 — have quit before the end of their term, says Quebec's elections agency.

They've left for a wide range of reasons, but some departures were influenced by the toxic behaviour of citizens.

"Harassment has been more and more frequent in the municipal world, whether it's in Quebec or when I speak to colleagues across Canada," Antoine Tardif, mayor of Victoriaville, Que., a town of 45,000 people about 140 kilometres northeast of Montreal, said in a recent interview. "I think social media is a part of the reason why we see more and more."

Quebec launched a months-long campaign to recruit candidates, particularly women and young people, ahead of the municipal elections scheduled for November 2025, says Municipal Affairs Minister Andrée Laforest.

Women compose half the population but are still under-represented in municipal councils across the province.

In the 2021 municipal elections, they accounted for 35.5 per cent of candidates, and five major cities elected a woman as mayor — but at least three of them aren't running next year.

France Bélisle cited a hostile work environment, including death threats from members of the public, in her abrupt decision to step down in February as mayor of Gatineau.

Sherbrooke Mayor Évelyne Beaudin gave similar reasons for excluding another run in November.

"Being an elected official in 2024 is not very popular," Beaudin said in May.

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said in October she wouldn't seek a third term. And while she didn't specifically cite online and public harassment as reasons for her departure — she said she didn't think she had the energy for another four years — Plante has limited comments on her social media profiles because of the vulgar responses she routinely receives.

Longueuil Mayor Catherine Fournier was placed under intermittent police protection and received death threats over a controversial plan to cull local deer; however, she is running again.

The provincial government has tried to assist embattled local politicians. In February, Quebec announced funding for a new telephone helpline for elected leaders.

And last June, it passed a law that includes fines of up to $1,500 for anyone who intimidates or harasses a politician.