Many candidates were familiar to voters, having sat on council in the past or having previously acted as mayor. But a few candidates across the Pontiac were of a younger generation, throwing their hats in the ring for the first time.

According to Elections Quebec, the average age of a candidate in this year’s municipal elections was 53.9, while candidates between the ages of 18-34 made up only 8.57 per cent of candidates. It was no different in the Pontiac – by THE EQUITY’s best count, fewer than 10 candidates matched this age group.

THE EQUITY spoke to some of these candidates about why they ran, what their platforms were, and what they hope an injection of youth could bring to municipal councils across the county.

Colin LeBrun, a 26-year-old native of Mansfield-et-Pontefract and an IT professional at École secondaire Sieur-de-Coulonge, won seat 5 in Mansfield against incumbent Claudette Béland.

LeBrun, who said he has attended Mansfield council meetings as an observer for three years, realized there was room for some youthful energy at the table, which sat several councillors that had been in their seats for several terms.

“There comes a point when you have done a lot of the things that you’ve already wanted to do, and you are just holding [the seat],” LeBrun said ahead of his victory, while still praising the accomplishments of the outgoing council.

He said the municipality should be looking to the future and asking itself how to get young people to stick around after graduating – something he said was one of his main platform points.

“When students graduate from high school, they go to the city but there’s really nothing that draws them back, and even in the time they’re here there’s not as many things to do. I’m looking for ways to engage them and get involved in the community,” he said.

LeBrun said he feels his tech expertise could be useful at the municipal office, which he said doesn’t always use technology as well as it could to better serve residents. He said he would like to see an automatic system implemented to document and respond to residents’ complaints or comments.

“I feel that there are ways in which it would help to focus on certain things in the municipality [ . . . ] with systems that manage automatic replies. With my IT and administrative background, it’s really leaning into making sure that people understand they are being listened to.”

Mansfield had one of the largest slates of candidates across the region, with 12 council hopefuls running for six seats. LeBrun and two other new councillors won seats, as well as former mayor Gilles Dionne, which he hopes means that Mansfield can begin to make some changes.

“I’ve seen and heard that from my door-to-door, that they feel there’s so many things that could be improved [with] fresh ideas [ . . . ] and they really want dramatic change,” he said, adding that he was happy to get voters’ support.

“If it’s an older council [ . . . ] then you might get old solutions, and I feel it’s imperative that we have new faces, new ideas jumping in.”

Holli Lair hopes to bring better communication and support for new families on Waltham council.

Holli Lair, a 31-year-old who works in communications for the federal government, was elected to seat 3 in Waltham over 16-year councillor Ramona Marion.

“We’re in a great position for this election [ . . . ] We have a huge opportunity to make a sweeping change,” LeBrun said.

Lair, who moved to Waltham seven years ago, said she was surprised to win the seat over the incumbent, but said she looks forward to offering a different perspective as a relative newcomer.

“I was running against someone who had been there for 16 years. I think experience is valuable for somebody who’s been there for a long time, but bringing in a fresh perspective from somebody who hasn’t necessarily lived here forever and wants what’s best for the community,” she said.

She said she is seeing more young families moving to Waltham and similar communities, and she would like to see Waltham become a good place for those families to live.

“Waltham is made up of a lot of the older generation than me, and I think having a young family it’s important to make Waltham the best place to raise a family. Bringing forward a fresh perspective
[ . . . ] is what I bring to the table.”

Cameron Montgomery said she hopes to bring a collaborative approach to her first term on Chichester council.

Cameron Montgomery,
32 years old, was elected to seat 6 on Chichester council. While she is from Pembroke originally, Montgomery moved to Chichester three years ago and is the current director of the Chutes Coulonge. She is also a bilingual grant writer for various organizations in the Pontiac and runs workshops promoting the transformation of local food.

She said she hopes to use her experience leveraging and creating connections to help the municipality get better access to services. Whether it is through sharing municipal services, various museums teaming up for a museum exhibit, or municipalities teaming up to apply for grants, she said she brings a collaborative approach that isn’t always common among older generations.

“There’s so much opportunity. For example, Chichester doesn’t need to have a big tourism offering and will never get a million-dollar tourism offering. But Chichester could benefit from tapping into a networked approach [ . . . ] You have to make yourself relevant by collaborating,” she said.

“People don’t even think of it [ . . . ] They don’t understand they’re doing this amazing thing,” she said.

Montgomery said she hopes collaborating can also translate into savings for ratepayers – something she wants to start looking at with this fall’s Chichester budget.

“Municipalities have such small margins, and I think there’s a lot of ways to look at the budget to leverage funds and invest funds to get money for community projects that shouldn’t be funded by taxpayer dollars.”

She said she hopes her experience as a municipal administrator will give her a leg up on other potential candidates who might be recently retired from a different career and who will have to learn the municipal world from scratch.

“When people run, it takes them years to just understand the process before they can even get anything done [ . . . ] and so I thought if I run and get in, then I could do a lot of good things for the community right away,” she said.

Vince Belland did not make it into seat 5 in Campbell’s Bay, but as an involved community member said he hopes more young people continue to get involved in municipal councils.

Vince Belland , a 24-year-old from Campbell’s Bay, lost seat 5 to Willy Rivet.

He was born and raised in town and chose to buy a house and start a business. Although he did not win his seat, he believes it’s important for young people to get involved in politics if they are to have any say in the direction their towns are headed.

“We’re the future generations that’s going to be living here so I think it’s time that we grabbed it by the reins and decide what we want,” he said.

He acknowledged that older councillors have a wealth of experience that younger candidates do not, but said younger councillors can act as a conduit if residents have concerns.

“You can’t go in there thinking, ‘I’m going to change every single thing, I think it’s really just to have another voice for younger people, and I think that’s what needs to be done,’” he said.

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