If that’s true, they didn’t let it show during Sunday night’s by-election.
Action Gatineau emerges stronger than ever from this election caused by the premature resignation of former mayor France Bélisle.
Not only is the political party back at town hall with Maude Marquis-Bissonnette, but Action Gatineau also won the by-election in the Carrefour-de l’Hôpital district by electing its candidate Catherine Craig-St-Louis.
A total victory that dozens of Action Gatineau activists celebrated loudly at Minotaure on Sunday evening, in the presence of former mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin, one of the first to congratulate the new mayor on her victory. A moment of great emotion for him.
Never since its entry into the Citizen’s House in 2013 has the political party been able to count on such a strong presence at the municipal council table. Action Gatineau now has 10 seats out of a possible 20.
In fact, the new mayor will even be able to count on a majority of municipal councilors to support her during important votes with the withdrawal, for an indefinite period, of independent councilor Jocelyn Blondin, for health reasons.
To say that some had predicted the decline of Action Gatineau after the departure of former mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin. It must be admitted today that the party has managed to renew itself, and even to extend its political influence despite the criticism directed at it.
It will also be said that Maude Marquis-Bissonnette was elected by taking advantage of the division of the vote among the six independent candidates who faced her. But even in a two-person race against Yves Ducharme, she could have done well by recovering part of the vote of women and cultural communities which went to her opponent Olive Kamanyana.
We will also say that Maude Marquis-Bissonnette took advantage of the low participation rate (33%, it’s heartbreaking!) to win. In such a context, there is no doubt that the electoral “machine” of Action Gatineau, always very motivated and very mobilized, succeeded in getting the vote out better than its opponents.
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No, Action Gatineau has never been so strong.
Former mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin had to govern with a minority political party at the municipal council table. A reality which forced him to water his wine and negotiate with independents to advance his ideas.
Under France Bélisle, the political party formed a solid opposition of 8 elected officials who managed to win important votes with the support of independent advisors like Steven Boivin and Edmond Leclerc.
With Maude Marquis-Bissonnette at town hall, Action Gatineau will be able to maneuver in majority waters for the first time at the Citizen’s House, at least until the return of Jocelyn Blondin to the council table.
We can think that the new mayor will take advantage of this to advance the tram project which is close to her heart. Or even the financing of the climate plan, a file that she piloted when she was a municipal councilor.
The day after this by-election, Action Gatineau seems more present and more influential than ever. “Ideas, especially big ones, don’t work alone,” said Maude Marquis-Bissonnette in her victory speech. They need people to carry them.”
This is another advantage of the political party: its ideas are widely known, regardless of the candidate for mayor or councilor who carries them.
Whereas independent candidates have to start from scratch in each election to make themselves known and attract voters.
Not an easy task: talk to Daniel Feeny who, despite good ideas and an excellent campaign, did not manage to do better than 4th because he was unknown to the population.
The defeated candidate, Daniel Feeny (Simon Séguin-Bertrand/Le Droit)
At a press briefing, a journalist asked Maude Marquis-Bissonnette if this was the last election with only one political party in Gatineau. “I’ll leave it to the analysts to answer that question,” she said.
I have been saying for a long time that we need another political party to counterbalance Action Gatineau.
Politics is the art of bringing people together around common ideas. What could be more effective than a political party to achieve this? Action Gatineau is proving this, election after election.
