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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-towns-without-mayors-1.6213979
11 Quebec towns will be without a mayor after elections | CBC News
Long-time mayors and city councillors say municipal politics are a tough sell but they want to encourage young people to be more interested and involved in local affairs.
www.cbc.ca
11 Quebec towns will be without a mayor after elections
FQM works to attract more young people to municipal politics
Jean Bergeron will be returning to city hall in Lotbinière for another term as mayor. He had planned to call it quits but decided to stay on when no one else put themselves forward for the job. (Radio-Canada)
After 16 years of municipal politics, including 13 as mayor, Jean Bergeron was ready to hang up his skates.
No one, on the other hand, offered to put them on after him.
So the 62-year-old retiree will serve yet another term as mayor of Lotbinière, Que., a town of about 800 people on the southern bank of the St. Lawrence River, about halfway between Trois-Rivières and Quebec City.
If he didn't, the town would be one of 11 in Quebec without a mayor come the Nov. 7 election because there are simply no candidates willing to take on the job.
Bergeron said he will be among the many municipal leaders in Quebec working to attract more people to hold office.
"We will have to be inventive in our way of communicating with citizens," he said.
"To demonstrate the beauty of the challenges ahead and the richness of what we get out of it as an individual. Because there are not only difficulties, there is also something very rewarding about serving our community."
He said many people don't want to run because they don't want to face the criticism from the public. Social media makes it much easier for people to hurl insults at political leaders, and there are cases of high-profile candidates in Montreal bowing out for that very reason.
Montreal politicians are quitting. They say social media is to blame | CBC News
In the year leading up to the election, multiple politicians have said they’re giving up their seats, citing toxic social media comments and harassment as the reason.
www.cbc.ca
Trying to get people interested in politics
But it's not just the online atmosphere that is making people hesitate.
"I've heard from a lot of people who are leaving because they are fed up with attacks. Damage to vehicles and things like that," said Scott Pearce, vice-president of Fédération québécoise des municipalités (FQM).
He is also the mayor of the Township of Gore, Que., about 100 kilometres north of Montreal.
People too busy to hold office
The low salary of holding municipal office in a small town coupled with busy lives can also be a turn off for people these days.
In Lotbinière, for example, the mayor gets paid about $17,000 per year.
For people like Sonia Lavallee, acting mayor of Blanc-Sablon, Que., there's just not enough time to run the town and work full time.
She took over as mayor when Wanda Beaudoin died on June 13. The town sits near the border with Newfoundland and Labrador.
Without a quorum, province eventually steps in
Janick Houde, spokesperson for Quebec's Ministry of Municipal Affairs, if there is no candidate for a position, the returning officer must repeat the election for that position.
The returning officer issues a new election notice and a new campaign begins. The process can only be restarted once, Houde said.
"If there is still no candidate, the returning officer advises the minister who can order a second restart or appoint an eligible person to the position concerned," she said.
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municipal : of or belonging to a town or city
hang up (one's) boots : to retire from playing a sports ( = retire from professional life)
vacant : (of a place) not being lived in or used, or (of a job or office) available for someone to do
remain : to stay in the same place or in the same codition
inventive : having or showing the ability to design or create something new
hurl : to throw something forcefully
fed up : annoyed or disgusted by something that you have experienced for too long
quorum : the number of members who must be present at a meeting in order for decisions. to be officially made
step in : to become invloved