The congress kicked off on Thursday September 26. The 2024 version is intended to be a way of promoting “the development and well-being of our French-speaking communities”.
“We aim to support municipalities with regard to services in French,” underlined the outgoing president of AFMO, Nicole Fortier Levesque, during the second day of the congress, Friday, September 27. “We want to ensure that Ontario’s 444 municipalities have access to services in French and then offer them in their municipalities.”
The AFMO congress is being held this year in the City of Clarence-Rockland. “I think that all municipalities which have a majority of French speakers have the responsibility of representation,” indicated its mayor, Mario Zanth. “It encourages the French-speaking world, French-speaking organizations.”
Several other mayors and elected officials from the United Counties of Prescott and Russell were also present, such as the president of the UCPR and mayor of the municipality of Champlain, Normand Riopel, as well as the provincial deputy for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, Stéphane Sarrazin.
The provincial deputy of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, Stéphane Sarrazin. (Chantallya Louis/Le Droit)
The congress is an opportunity for participants to listen to conferences, but also to network and exchange ideas that help French-speaking communities grow. “It’s a great way to bring together French-speaking communities. We are all working in the same direction,” says Stéphane Sarrazin. “When we start chatting together and sharing information, we come out on top.”
Renewed interest?
AFMO has experienced its share of difficulties in recent years, both in terms of its finances and in terms of its difficulty in attracting certain municipalities, particularly in Eastern Ontario.
Holding the annual conference this year in eastern Ontario marks the renewed interest of French-speaking communities in the province for the organization, underlined Ms. Fortier Levesque.
“It makes me shudder to see the interest and participation from Eastern Ontario this year,” she emphasizes. I think we managed to develop enthusiasm by redefining ourselves.”
She explains this redefinition, among other things, by the work that AFMO has carried out in terms of visibility, participation in various municipal congresses and in connection with the creation of different partnerships, even internationally, explaining the presence of a delegation of African dignitaries on Friday.
“All municipalities can be members of AFMO to obtain services from the organization to elected officials and municipal executives.”
“All municipalities in Ontario have Francophones, even if the percentage is low. We must serve them.”
— Nicole Fortier Levesque, outgoing president of the French Association of Municipalities of Ontario
“It’s a bit like the French-speaking version of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and I think it’s important to keep that for our world,” added Stéphane Sarrazin.
In 2023, during the first post-pandemic AFMO conference, only five municipalities participated in the event, all from northern Ontario.
“Having municipalities from northern Ontario, from the east, from everywhere this year, it’s really fun because they all have slightly different challenges and it allows us to work together to achieve the same objectives .”
“It is important that the East participates and we can see that it is a feeling shared with all the mayors and elected officials here present,” added Normand Riopel.
Women in politics
Several themes were addressed throughout the congress, such as parity, diversity and inclusion in municipal politics, housing security, municipal youth policy, municipal security and cybersecurity, communication with the media, mental health and agrifood, among others.
The impact of female leadership in communities was also the theme of one of the conferences, while municipal elected officials everywhere face several challenges
The panel, which included Nicole Fortin Levesque, the municipal councilor of Rideau-Vanier, Stéphanie Plante, as well as the ambassador of Mali to Canada, Fatima Braoulé Méïté, focused on the challenges of female leadership and the place of women in policy.
The panel, which included Nicole Fortin Levesque, the municipal councilor of Rideau-Vanier, Stéphanie Plante, as well as the ambassador of Mali to Canada, Fatima Braoulé Méïté, focused on the challenges of female leadership and the place of women in policy. (Ani-Rose Deschatelets/Le Droit)
“Why do I receive so many emails asking me to dye my hair, or where people tell me that they don’t like what I’m wearing, about my weight,” Stéphanie Plante gave as an example. “Why do people obsess over this stuff? For me, it’s a challenge because I don’t understand their stubbornness in writing this stuff to us. I have a lot [d’autres dossiers] to manage.”
“We are expected to be fragile and weak. We tend to masculinize ourselves to appear strong and that distorts us,” added the Malian ambassador. “We just have to think of Kamala Harris who is seeking to become president of the United States. She has to walk straight, wear pants, a little more and we ask her to wear a tie. It’s a challenge to be yourself […] It’s tiring.”
The 2024 version of the AFMO congress continues until Saturday September 28.
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