Communities with fewer than 2,000 residents can reduce the size of their council from six to four seats. Since the last municipal elections, 1,082 elected officials have left office—a wave of resignations that often catches councils off guard and makes recruiting new candidates more difficult.
In Saint-Edmond-les-Plaines, former mayor Martine Verville (2021–2023) sums up the workload:
The regional county municipality (MRC) requires an enormous amount of time. I wasn’t expecting that—it’s too much. Then there are the regular meetings, the plenaries, and the public sessions. It becomes very, very heavy. You send documents to the elected officials, but they show up at council and you can tell they haven’t read them, that’s for sure.
By-elections triggered by mid-term resignations are expensive. Hence the controversial idea of reducing from six to four seats in municipalities with 2,000 residents or fewer. Such a measure can generate savings (remuneration, expense allowances) and potentially reduce the number of costly by-elections.
Underlying this is a lack of understanding of councillors’ roles and workloads, which sometimes leads to ill-prepared candidacies—and quick departures. It’s time to launch a serious discussion on how to attract and support more people willing to get involved in municipal politics.
References:
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2194948/conseillers-elections-gouvernance-municipale
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2130333/demission-elus-municipal-election-democratie
