2025, an election year | -

Over the next few months, Lower Laurentians will go to the polls twice rather than once. If the municipal elections are scheduled for November 2, 2025, those aimed at electing federal deputies could be held earlier than planned, after an electoral redistribution which deprives eastern Quebec of a constituency.

During the last parliamentary session in Ottawa, tensions were particularly high as an internal crisis shook the Liberal Party of Canada, in power since 2015.

I think we are not aware that we are heading towards a historic victory for the Conservative Party across Canada.says from the outset the political science teacher at Cégep de Rimouski, Benoît Collette. As they say in good Quebec, I have the impression that it’s going to be a nasty volley.

According to him, Quebec nevertheless risks escaping this conservative wave due to the strong presence of the Bloc Québécois. Ils [les conservateurs] do not need to increase their deputation in Quebec to have a majorityhe adds.

Closer to home, this election will be marked by the loss of a riding in eastern Quebec. This will in fact be the first election to take place after the disappearance of Avignon–La Mitis–Matane–Matapédia, currently held by Kristina Michaud of the Bloc Québécois.

Benoît Collette is particularly concerned about the loss of representation. It’s not the same thing in Montreal or Toronto when there are 25-30 federal deputies for a city whereas here, it’s quite the opposite. We have dozens and dozens of municipalities that depend on a federal deputy for their files.he points out.

This is starting to create very large territories to cover. Good luck to the person who will have to do [ce travail] there. It won’t be easy.

According to the teacher, if there is a fight to follow during the next federal election, it will be the one between the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Diane Lebouthillier, and the Bloc MP Kristina Michaud. The two women will do battle in Gaspésie–Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine–Listuguj.

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Otherwise, he expects very few changes in the federal delegation from eastern Quebec. According to him, the conservative Bernard Généreux should remain well in the saddle in his renamed Côte-du-Sud–Rivière-du-Loup–Kataskomiq–Témiscouata riding.

Mr. Collette suggests that Bloc member Maxime Blanchette-Joncas also has a good chance of being re-elected. With the new redistribution, his constituency will now bear the name of Rimouski–La Matapédia.

The municipal world in crisis

On the municipal scene, the last mandate was marked by strong dissensions within the council of Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac and more generally, by an unprecedented wave of resignations among elected officials, both mayors and councilors.

Between November 7, 2021, the date of the last general election, and December 31, 2024, no less than 802 by-elections took place across the province, including 115 in Bas-Saint-Laurent.

Thus, 176 positions of councilors or mayors were filled during the last mandate.

This does not mean, however, that these vacant positions are all linked to departures from political life. Élections Québec indicates that a vacant position can be explained in particular by the resignation of a councilor who wants to present his candidacy for the position of mayor after the latter’s death, for example.

There is a particular crisis in Bas-Saint-Laurent, but it is more broadly a crisis linked to rurality. There is a higher rate of resignation in the regions and MRC ruralhowever, explains Yann Fournis, professor of political science at the University of Quebec at Rimouski (UQAR).

He adds that the populations there are aging and that it is more difficult to recruit young people to occupy a position within the municipal apparatus. Being a municipal elected official takes time, so when you have a full-time job, it’s very difficult to be mayor.

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The professor recalls that health issues become more important with age and that this forces certain elected officials to leave their positions.

It’s a very difficult job. There are very few resources. Most people do it on a voluntary basis and it takes a lot of time.

During his research, Mr. Fournis also noted that social networks add significant pressure on elected officials. We are not going to hide the fact that comments on the Internet are less controlled. There are things we say in relative anonymity that we wouldn’t say face to facehe emphasizes.

The government was absolutely right to be interested in the question of intimidation, in the question of violence against municipal elected officialsargues the academic.

The professor recalls that a majority of municipal elected officials are elected without opposition and that this trend will continue in the next election. We are between 55% and 60% of mayors elected by acclamation, that is to say without an effective vote. I don’t see how it could get any betterhe concludes.

The citizens of Quebec will choose their mayors, their councilors and in certain cases, their prefects, on November 2, 2025.