'Fed up with the old boys' club': Women elected to top municipal jobs across Quebec

Yesterday, Montrealers elected a woman to be mayor for the first time.

"We have written a new page in Montreal's history books," mayor-elect Valrie Plantesaid in her victory speech on Sunday.

Plantemay be the most prominent newly elected woman, but in Montreal boroughs, and incities and towns across the province which holdselections on the first Sunday of November other womenmade significant inroads.

Wave of women elected to municipal office in Quebec

7 years ago

Duration 1:05

A wave of women were elected to municipal office in Quebec, led by Valrie Plante, the first woman elected mayor of Montreal.

Seven of 18 borough mayors elected in Montreal are now women, including former Montreal Gazette journalist Sue Montgomery. (As mayor, Plante also becomes borough mayor of Ville-Marie, the downtown district.)

• Sue Montgomery winsCDN-NDGmayoralty in tight race

Montgomery defeated the incumbent mayor of Cote-des-NeigesNotre-Dame-de-Grace, RussellCopeman, despite having noprior municipal political experience.

"I think it goes back to just beingfed up withthe old boys' club," Montgomery toldCBCNews. "I'm really happy to see that so many young people got involved."

MajaVodanovicalso beat her male rival, Claude Dauphin, for the mayor's post in the borough of Lachine, and women took the top job in fiveothers:

• Chantal Rouleau was re-elected in Rivire-des-PrairiesPointe-aux-Trembles.
• Manon Barbewas re-elected in LaSalle.
• Christine Black was re-elected inMontreal North.
• Ahuntsic-Cartiervilleelectedmilie Thullier.
• Giuliana Fumagalli replaces Anie Samson as borough mayor in VilleraySaint-MichelParc-Extension.

Women were also electedmayor in the cities ofWestmount,Saguenay,LongueuilandRouyn-Noranda.

In Brossard, on Montreal's South Shore, mayor-elect Doreen Assaadsaid her council will have gender parity for the first time.

"We have a lot of challenges ahead of us," she said in an interview on CBCMontreal's Daybreak. "We're going to stand tall and make the citizens proud."

'Progress toward parity'

"Yesterday's results represent a wind of change," the Quebec Council on the Status of Women said in a statement Monday, adding the "election of many women in municipal politics" represents "progress toward parity."

Of the 19 borough mayor candidates or co-candidatesfor the municipalparty Projet Montral, 10 were women and nine were men.

Eleven men ran for borough mayor under the quipe Denis Coderrebanner.

• Incumbent Christina Smith easily elected mayor of Westmount

The council added that an increased women's presence is crucial to political institutions,callingthe election results "a historic breakthrough."

According to the Quebec Ministry of Municipal Affairs, 4,046 women in Quebec sought a municipal post in Sunday's election, including 385 mayoral candidates.

In 2005, 24.7 per cent of municipal candidates were women. By 2017, that figure had risen to 31.3 per cent.

'Victory for women'

Those figures represent a major turning point for women, said Quebec writer and prominent feminist Francine Pelletier.

"We all know how difficult it has been for women to get to high places, including political places," Pelletier said. "It's a victory for women."

Montreal is now the largest city in Canada with a femalemayor.

Plante's ambitious agenda, such as the proposed construction of a new metro line, willlikely be more difficult to achieve simply because the mayor-elect is a woman, Pelletierpredicted.

• Hours after her historic win, Valrie Plante says she's ready to work

On the other hand, Plante"is riding a feminine wave of disgust with the way politics and powerful people conduct themselves." she said, citing the #BeenRapedNeverReported social media campaign, the sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinsteinand others,and arrogance in the political sphere.

Pelletiersuggests the effect is a shifttoward women, because they are seen as being free from those habits often associated with men.

She said Planteisn't shy to display what some might see as traditional feminine qualities, "which in the past would have sunk her:the fact that she smiled too much or she giggled too muchthose feminine qualities are now paying off."

Exhibiting the confidence of a man without being arrogant, along with some qualities that could be associated with femininity, like listening and integrity, appearto have createda winning combination for Plante, Pelletiersaid.

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