Caleb Nickerson
CAMPBELL’S BAY
Sept. 14, 2017
On the evening of Sept. 14, around 20 women gathered at the MRC office in Campbell’s Bay for a round-table on women in politics.
It was fitting that the discussion was held in a room named after Elsie Gibbons, who was elected mayor of Portage du Fort in 1953, just 13 years after women gained the right to vote in provincial elections. After becoming Quebec’s first female mayor, Gibbons also went on to sit as warden of MRC Pontiac from 1959 to 1961.
The event was organized by AGIR Outaouais, an organization that works to support women and women’s groups in the region.

“The initiative today was actually an initiative with the FQM, or Federation of Quebec Municipalities, to encourage more women to participate in the upcoming municipal election because statistics show that women in most areas, particularly rural areas, are less prone to play a part in municipal politics,” explained Chantal Cholette, a consultant with AGIR that led the discussion. “This is the first year we’ve done it with the FQM. In previous elections, AGIR has always been active to try and get women in politics and more women active just in general.”
“This is the first time we’ve done it in this format,” she continued. “We wanted to have one here on the 29th of August, but we didn’t have enough registration so we pushed it to the 14th which turned out to be a great decision because this is the biggest group we’ve had, except for Gatineau.”
The evening consisted of Cholette directing a wide variety of questions to a panel of female politicians, eventually opening up the floor to a discussion with the other attendees. The panel was made up of Thorne councillor Marguerite Born, Litchfield Mayor Colleen Larivière, former Pontiac MNA and candidate for Warden Charlotte L’Écuyer and Warden of MRC de Papineau, Paulette Lalande.
Cholette started out by going over statistics on women in politics and reasons why they might not be seeking election at the same rates as men. She said while representation has been increasing, as demonstrated by the federal Liberal’s choices for cabinet, work still needs to be done to improve equality at the local level.
“The more women are in politics, the more the system will have to adapt,” she said.
The first round of questions focused on getting elected and keeping your seat.
Born said that municipal politics is different than other levels of government, in that you’re much more accessible to your electorate.
“You know the people in your community,” she said. “When people have a problem, they come to you. At other levels you can hide.”
Lalande gave some very poignant advice on dealing with the media, emphasizing that communication is key for politicians at every level. She said that one of the biggest mistakes she sees new politicians make is thinking that journalists are their friends, advising attendees to stick to general responses and asking the interviewer to repeat the question if they don’t have an immediate answer.
The second half of the evening focused on balancing work and home life.
Larivière said that she sets very clear boundaries when it comes to her public and private life, strictly avoiding discussions on municipal issues over the dinner table or through Facebook.
All the panelists agreed that juggling work and familial responsibilities was a tough job, but definitely possible.
After the discussion, the attendees went around the table discussing their political aspirations and almost all said they would seek office in some capacity in the upcoming elections. Jane Toller, who is running for Warden of the MRC, spoke about her experience as a city councillor and mayoral candidate in Toronto.
“Municipal politics is by far the most exciting level,” she said, explaining that many of the decisions made by council affect citizen’s everyday lives.
Judging by the lively conversations that continued after the meeting was adjourned, the evening was an excellent learning and networking opportunity for all in attendance.