The mayor of Longueuil, Catherine Fournier, will seek a second term. The 32-year-old elected official argued Thursday that she wants to continue her efforts in housing, emphasizing the need to escape the “negative spiral” in municipal politics.
Published at 9:30 a.m.
Updated at 10:59 a.m.
“Does my presence at the head of the City make a difference, tip the scales positively? It is because I remain convinced that the answer is yes that I am announcing to you that I will be a candidate for re-election. There are very few functions that allow you to contribute to transforming your society as I have the opportunity to do on a daily basis,” explained Mme Fournier, saying he felt the support of the people of Longueuil.
It thus confirmed information first reported by The Pressat the start of the day. She invited the media on Thursday for an “important” press conference aimed at taking “an update on her political future”. Quickly, some suggested that she would leave municipal politics.
However, it is rather the opposite that happened. The mayor confirmed her intention to run again in 2025, making no secret of having had a long reflection on the subject in recent months, especially in the wake of the storm. Debbywhich had caused a lot of damage in Longueuil. She had also expressed these same reservations in an open letter published in our pages at the end of October.
Here as elsewhere, I think that most mayors are thinking about leaving at one point or another. […]but I deeply want to continue and see what we are building evolve.
Catherine Fournier, mayor of Longueuil
The mayor of Longueuil hopes to breathe a breath of hope onto the municipal scene, after the departure of several of her colleagues. One in 10 Quebec municipal officials has left office since their election in the fall of 2021, according to the Union of Quebec Municipalities (UMQ).
In Montreal, at the end of October, the announcement of the departure of Valérie Plante, who will not seek a new mandate, also created a shock wave, leaving the profile of an election with several new faces in the metropolis.
Housing first
To get re-elected, Mme Fournier intends in particular to focus on housing, one of the mainstays of his administration. From September 2023 to 2024, the number of construction starts jumped by 228% in Longueuil, according to the Association of Construction and Housing Professionals of Quebec (APCHQ).
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Catherine Fournier
She notably recalled Thursday having adopted an “innovative approach” allowing mayors to sell developers the right to build higher than the zoning allowed in exchange for compensation intended for non-profit housing. The idea has since made its way to the government and “is now within the reach of all municipalities,” said the elected official.
Mme Fournier also launches an appeal to young people, whom she wants to see be more present in terms of applications in 2025, both in her city and elsewhere. “I want us to get out of the negative spiral and talk about beauty in politics. Being mayor is true that it is demanding, but above all it is a privilege. »
By being elected head of the City of Longueuil in November 2021, Catherine Fournier became the youngest mayor in the recent history of the five largest municipalities in Quebec. At the same time, she managed to form an overwhelming majority in the city council.
The main interested party was elected for the first time as a deputy for the Marie-Victorin constituency during by-elections in 2016, with the Parti Québécois team. In 2019, however, she left the Parti Québécois caucus to sit as an independent, before making the jump to municipal office.
